A yellow cross on a blue ground that takes its colours from the Swedish royal arms and its shape from the other Nordic flags.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
Civil and state, on land and at seaFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field with a 5:8 ratio, blue, with a yellow Nordic cross shifted towards the flagpole.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
In 1442 there appears the coat of arms Sweden still uses today
By the sixteenth century the flag already existed: a royal order of 1569 required that the yellow…
After the separation of 1905, Sweden withdraws the badge and a law fixes the present design…
Today it is governed by another law, of 1982
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Sweden is blue with a yellow cross. Very few flags combine only these two colours, so it is easy to recognise. Its shape makes it a sister to those of its northern neighbours; its colours, on the other hand, come from the arms of the kingdom.
Nobody knows when it was first used. What is clear is where the colours come from: from the thirteenth century the Swedish kings bore blue and gold on their arms. In 1442 there appears the coat of arms Sweden still uses today, a blue ground quartered by a golden cross.
By the sixteenth century the flag already existed: a royal order of 1569 required that the yellow cross always appear on Swedish standards. The idea of shifting the cross towards the flagpole, rather than leaving it in the centre, was very probably taken from the Danish Dannebrog. There is also a legend: King Erik IX would have seen a golden cross shining in the sky during an expedition to Finland, in the twelfth century. No document confirms it.
The drawing of the cross has not changed; what has come and gone are the swallowtails and the badges.
17th century
A version with three points appears, which the Navy, the Army and the royal family still use.
1844-1905
Sweden and Norway share a king, and their flags carry in the upper corner a badge in the colours of both countries.
1906
After the separation of 1905, Sweden withdraws the badge and a law fixes the present design and colours. Today it is governed by another law, of 1982.
The law assigns it no meaning. What explains the flag is its origin:
Blue and yellow
the colours of the Swedish royal arms since the Middle Ages.
Cross
Christianity, as in the rest of the Nordic flags.
Shifted cross
the model that began in Denmark and which the other countries of the area followed.
The badge of the union with Norway was a mosaic of stripes and crosses in colour. On either side of the border it was mockingly nicknamed sillsallad, “herring salad”.
Since 1916, 6 June is celebrated as Flag Day. It was chosen because on that day, in 1523, Gustav Vasa was elected king. In 1983 the date also became Sweden’s National Day.
The flag is hoisted at 8 a.m. from March to October and at 9 the rest of the year, and lowered at sunset.
Test what you have read about the flag of Sweden.
Text based on the article “Bandera de Suecia” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Jon Harald Søby and others., Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
Finland
Norway
