This Week In Vexillology #53

Last week, we found ourselves on the west coast of Africa in Sierra Leone-  this week, we're heading back up to Europe to ring in November with the land of ABBA, Ikea and Zlatan Ibrahimovic-  that's right, this week in vexillology, we've got Sweden:

Adopted on June 22nd, 1906 for national and civil usage, the flag of Sweden contains that distinctive Scandinavian cross that is taken from the flag of Denmark.  Like their Danish counterparts, the origin of the Swedish flag also has it's own deeply rooted mythology.  From The Font of All Knowledge, Wikipedia:

According to the mythology, the 12th-century King Eric IX saw a golden cross in the sky as he landed in Finland during the First Swedish Crusade in 1157. Seeing this as a sign from God he adopted the golden cross against a blue background as his banner, though the golden cross was changed later to a yellow cross due to practicality. The problem with the mythology is partly the fact that there are no contemporary sources about the crusade and partly because there are no pictures or descriptions of the flag until the middle of the 16th century.

Slightly problematic mythology aside, the colors of the Swedish flag- blue and gold date back as far as 1275, where they were used for King Magnus III's Coat of Arms- while the cross is thought to date back to the Swedish Coat of Arms of 1442.  Whether you choose to get down with the nice story of King Eric IX or go for a more prosaic explanation- either way, the Swedish cross has been around for a very long time.

An interesting side note to all of this is the amount of well, let's call them 'marriages' and 'divorces' the nations of Scandinavia have had over the centuries- part of the reason this flag wasn't officially adopted by Sweden until 1906 was that from 1814-1905 both Norway and Sweden were united under a personal union of one monarch.   While both countries maintained their respective flags- this was added to military ensigns and used as a common diplomatic flag:

Pretty eye catching, huh?  Before that, Sweden had controlled Finland for awhile (a long while as it turned out--  colonies were established in the 12th Century and Finland became a consolidated part of the Swedish Kingdom up until 1809 when it became part of Russia until 1917.) Further back still, you had the Union of Kalmar which was pretty much everybody plus Iceland, the Faroe Islands and the Shetlands and the Orkneys until they were given to Scotland in 1471.   And Denmark and Norway remained in union from the 1430s (when Gustav Vasa broke away to make Sweden independent again) right up until 1814- when Norway promptly went into a union with Sweden again.

While they may not be the most exciting flags in the world, I do like all of the Scandinavian flags.  Their similarities speak to a common heritage and history that stretches back centuries and to be honest, I find Sweden's flag to be amongst the most striking of the bunch.   So ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Sweden-  and until next time, keep your flags flying-  FREAK or otherwise.