Flag of Åland flag was made illegal in 1935. Flag of Åland The flag of Åland refers to the geographical and political position of the Finnish islands of Åland. It is the Swedish flag defaced by a red cross symbolising Finland. Today, blue and white are considered the Finnish colours, but in the early days of Finnish nationalism, red and yellow from the Finnish coat of arms were also an option. The flag has been the official flag of the autonomous Finnish province of Åland since 1954. It was first hoisted on 3 April 1954. Prior to autonomy, an unofficial horizontal bicolour triband
Flag of Norway square at the hoist. This flag was in use as state and war flag until 1815 and as merchant flag until 1821. Later in 1814 Norway was united with Sweden, and on 7 March 1815 a common war flag for both states was introduced by royal order in council, the Swedish flag with a white cross on a red background in the square canton. The same design in a rectangular flag was introduced as an alternate merchant flag in 1818, for use in distant waters, i.e. south of Cape Finisterre in Spain. The current flag of Norway was designed in