Flag of Iceland

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Flag of Iceland.svg
Use Civil flag and ensign
Proportion 18:25
Adopted 1944
Design A white-fimbriated red Nordic cross on a blue field
Designed by Matthías Þórðarson
Flag of Iceland (state).svg
Variant flag of Iceland
Use State and war flag and state and naval ensign
Proportion 18:32
IFIS Mirror.svgThe flag of the President of Iceland. It has an aspect ratio of 18:32.
The flag of the Icelandic Customs Service. It has an aspect ratio of 18:32.
IFIS Historical.svgThe civil flag as it appeared between 1918 and 1944, when the blue colour was classified as "ultramarine blue." It has an aspect ratio of 18:25.

The flag of Iceland (Icelandic: íslenski fáninn)[1] was officially described in Law No. 34, set out on 17 June 1944, the day Iceland became a republic. The law is entitled "The Law of the National Flag of Icelanders and the State Arms" and describes the Icelandic flag as follows:


Iceland's first national flag was a white cross on a deep blue background. It was first shown in parade in 1897. The modern flag dates from 1915, when a red cross was inserted into the white cross of the original flag. This cross represents Christianity.[2][3] It was adopted and became the national flag when Iceland gained independence from Denmark in 1918. For the Icelandic people the flag's colouring represents a vision of their country's landscape. The colours stand for 3 of the elements that make up the island. Red is the fire produced by the island's volcanoes, white recalls the ice and snow that covers Iceland, and blue is for mountains in the distance.

The state flag (Tjúgufáni) differs from the civil one, that the outer rectangles are three times longer than the hoist side rectangles and split at the end, cut directly from the outer corners to its centre line. Cutting the inner edges of the outer rectangles at 4/7 of outer length and 3/7 of inner length of the outer rectangles. When this cut encounters the edge of the red cross it is cut vertically.


According to a legend described in Andrew Evans' Iceland,[4] a red cloth with a white cross came down from the sky during the Danes victory at the Battle of Valdemar in the 13th-century. Denmark then used the cross on its flag throughout its territories in Scandinavia as a sign of divine right. At Iceland's independence, they continued to use the Christian symbol.

The civil flag of Iceland had been used as an unofficial symbol since 1913. It was officially adopted on 19 June 1915, to represent Iceland, and has been in use at sea since 1 December 1918, when Iceland became a separate Kingdom the family of Scandinavian countries. Other symbolic meanings refer to the natural features of Iceland itself. Blue is the colour of the Icelandic mountains, white represents the snow and ice covering the island for most of the year, and red the volcanoes on the island.

IFIS Proposed.svg A former flag which never became official, known as Hvítbláinn ("the white-blue"), in use by Icelandic republicans around 1900. A very similar design has subsequently been adopted as the flag of Shetland.

Laws regarding the flag[edit]

On 17 June 1944, the day Iceland became a republic, a law was issued that dealt with the national flag and the coat of arms. To date, this is the only major law to have been made about the flag and coat of arms, aside from two laws made in 1991: one that defines official flag days as well as the time of day the flag can be drawn, and another that defines the specific colours that the Icelandic flag is composed of (until then, the colouring had followed by convention; the new law set the common custom in stone).

The law describes the dimensions of both the common flag and special governmental flags used by embassies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It also goes into details of usage, such as how the flag should be attached in different situations such as on a flagpole, a house and on different kinds of ships.


The original law stated in its seventh article that another law would be set regarding official flag days and the time of day that the flag may be flown, but such a law was not put into effect until almost 50 years later in 1991. This law states that the flag shall not be flown until 7 o'clock in the morning, that it should preferably not be flown beyond sunset but that it must not be flown beyond midnight. However, if the flag is raised at an outdoor assembly, an official gathering, funeral or a memorial the flag may be flown as long as the event lasts, though never beyond midnight.

Official flag days[edit]

Icelandic flags in Viðey
The Icelandic flag in Þingvellir National Park

According to Law No. 5 of 23 January 1991, the following are nationally sanctioned flag days. On these days the flag must be raised at official buildings, and those under the supervision of officials and special representatives of the state. Any additions to the list below can be decided each year by the Prime Minister's Office. On these days, the flag must be fully drawn, except on Good Friday where it must be drawn at half-mast.

The State flag[edit]

Icelandic state flag at the Embassy in Helsinki.

The Icelandic state flag (Ríkisfáni), known as the Tjúgufáni, was first flown on 1 December 1918 from the house of ministry offices, although laws regarding its uses had not been finished. It wasn't until 12 February 1919 that such a law was enacted.

The State flag is used on governmental buildings and embassies. It is also permitted to use the flag on other buildings, if they are being used by the government in some fashion. The Tjúgufáni is the Naval Ensign of the Icelandic Coast Guard as well, and state ships and other ships put to official uses are permitted to use it.

The Customs service flag is used on buildings used by the Icelandic Customs service and Customs checkpoints, as well as ships used by the Icelandic Customs service.

The Icelandic Presidential flag is used on the dwellings of the President as well as any vehicles that are used to transport him or her.

Colours of the flag[edit]

Officially, the colours of the Icelandic flag follow a law set in 1991 which states that the colours must be the following Standard Colour of Textile (Dictionnaire Internationale de la Couleur) hues: flag means fáni

Scheme Blue White Red

(Water-blue, snow-white, fire-red)

Recently, the government of Iceland has considered issuing colour specifications in the better known Pantone and CMYK systems. However, no official action was taken, and the PMS and CMYK specifications remain unofficial proposals.

Scheme Blue White Red
Pantone 287 (approx. #0048E0) 1c (approx. #FFFFFF) I1795 (approx. #FF0F00)
CMYK 100, 69, 0, 11.5 0, 0, 0, 0 0, 94, 100, 0

See also[edit]


  1. ^ The word íslenski is written in lowercase: Orthographic rules (ritreglur) at the Icelandic Language Institute (Íslensk málstöð), section II. Upper- and Lower-Case Letters, subsection 9: Words derived from proper nouns are generally capitalized, [...] This never applies to adjectives containing -sk-.
  2. ^ Jeroen Temperman. State Religion Relationships and Human Rights Law. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Retrieved 2007-12-31. "Many predominantly Christian states show a cross, symbolising Christainity, on their national flag. Scandinavian crosses or Nordic crosses on the flags of the Nordic countries–Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden–also represent Christianity." 
  4. ^ Andrew Evans. Iceland. Bradt. Retrieved 2007-12-31. "Legend states that a red cloth with the white cross simply fell from the sky in the middle of the 13th-century Battle of Valdemar, after which the Danes were victorious. As a badge of divine right, Denmark flew its cross in the other Scandinavian countries it ruled and as each nation gained independence, they incorporated the Christian symbol." 
  • Lög um þjóðfána Íslendinga og ríkisskjaldarmerkið. ( 1944 nr. 34 17. júní ).
Retrieved 14 May 2004 from http://www.althingi.is/lagas/130a/1944034.html
  • Forsetaúrskurður um fánadaga og fánatíma. ( 1991 nr. 5 23. janúar ).
Retrieved 14 May 2004 from http://www.althingi.is/lagas/125b/1991005.html
  • Auglýsing um liti íslenska fánans. ( 1991 nr. 6 23. janúar ).
Retrieved 14 May 2004 from http://www.althingi.is/lagas/125b/1991006.html
  • Lög um breyting á lögum nr. 34 17. júní 1944, um þjóðfána Íslendinga.
Retrieved 14 May 2004 from http://www.althingi.is/altext/stjt/1998.067.html

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