Flag of Greenland

The flag of Greenland has two horizontal stripes, white on top and red below, and a circle shifted towards the flagpole with the colours inverted. It recalls a setting sun over the frozen sea. It is the only flag among the Nordic countries and territories that does not carry the Scandinavian cross.

How it came about

Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and for centuries used the Danish flag, the Dannebrog. The idea of having one of its own came up in 1973, when five Greenlanders proposed a green, white and blue flag. The following year a newspaper published eleven proposals, almost all with a Scandinavian cross, and asked its readers. The Dannebrog won.

In 1979 Greenland obtained a self-government, which in 1980 called a competition. 555 designs came in, 293 of them from the island itself. As there was no agreement, more were asked of artists. In the end, the red and white design of the professor, artist and politician Thue Christiansen won by 14 votes to 11 against a green and white Scandinavian cross. The flag was hoisted for the first time on 21 June 1985, Greenland’s national day.

How it has changed

It has not changed since 1985. What does change is who decides about it: its design is fixed by a Danish law of that year, but in January 2026 the governments of Greenland and Denmark agreed to hand that power over to the Greenlandic government.

What it means

Christiansen himself explained his design like this:

• White of the flag

  the ice that covers most of the island.

• Red of the flag

  the ocean.

• Red half of the circle

  the sun, and also the fjords.

• White half of the circle

  icebergs and sea ice.

• Red and white

  the colours of the Danish flag, which recall Greenland’s place in the Kingdom of Denmark.

In Greenlandic it is called Erfalasorput, ‘our flag’. It is also called Aappalaartoq, ‘the red one’, the same nickname given to the Dannebrog.

Fun facts

1. No cross, and it won by a hair

   Many Greenlanders wanted a Scandinavian cross like that of their neighbours. The flag with the circle won by only three votes, and for a while there were people who did not accept it.

2. A rowing club got there first

   A rowing club from the Aarhus area, in Denmark, had used a pennant with the same design since 1970. When Greenland adopted its flag, both sides agreed to keep their symbols.

3. An inherited nickname

   Christiansen explained that, since it had the same colours as the Danish one, the new flag could go on being called Aappalaartoq, ‘the red one’. That probably helped it win.