The Icelandic flag: Its history, symbolism, and more

Though Iceland hosts one of the oldest legal assemblies in the world, our small island nation has only been an independent, sovereign country for less than 100 years. Like so much in Iceland, the history of our flag is ancient, but also very new in many ways. 

So come along and explore the remarkable history of the Icelandic flag, how it evolved alongside our independence movement, and the meaning woven into its design! 

The history of the Icelandic flag is not especially long, Iceland having only gained its independence in the 20th century. It was only truly during the growing independence movement of the 19th century that the need for a national symbol such as a flag was taken seriously. 

One of the earliest flags that is considered historically significant was essentially a brand logo. Before Reykjavík was the capital of Iceland, it was a small fishing village (and some might say it remains so to this day!). It was only in the 18th century that Skúli Magnússon, acting as a sheriff under Danish rule, began to encourage industrial development, starting a process of urbanization that led to Reykjavík becoming the administrative center of Iceland. For this important role, he is known today as the Father of Reykjavík. 

Under Skúli’s leadership, a process of mercantile development began, leading to the creation of a Joint Icelandic Stock Company for the import and export of Icelandic goods. In 1752, one Eggert Ólafsson founded such an enterprise and took as its logo a stockfish (dried cod – a key Icelandic export both then and today) and the letters P.I.I. (Privilegerede Islandske Interessenter in Danish, which in English translated to Privileged Icelandic Stakeholders). Not much is known of this flag, and it was only used until 1764, but it was one of the first symbols that could meaningfully be called a flag of Iceland. 

One curious episode in Icelandic history occurred in 1809 during the short-lived rule of Jørgen Jørgensen, the so-called “Dog-Day King,” a reference to his rule during the late days of summer. Jørgen Jørgensen was a Danish sailor and adventurer born in 1780 in Copenhagen. Influenced by the republican ideals of the French Revolution (and with the Napoleonic Wars raging across Europe), Jørgen Jørgensen took it upon himself to liberate Iceland from their Danish overlords. 

With nothing more than a small crew of companions, for a short time in the summer of 1809 Jørgen “overthrew” Danish rule in Iceland and established himself as Protector of Iceland. The idealistic young man intended to found a new nation in line with the United States and the still-young French Republic, and to break away from old, European powers. His rule lasted for only two months, but during this time he also gave his new republic a flag, consisting of three stockfish on a blue field. The flag is known in Icelandic simply as the “Cod Flag,” and serves as a reminder of this peculiar interlude.  

Clearly a restless spirit, Jørgen Jørgensen’s adventures did not end after Iceland. After a life of traveling widely (and drinking and gambling along the way), he was imprisoned in the UK and ultimately deported to Australia, where he led several expeditions to explore Tasmania, ultimately dying in 1841. Jørgen Jørgensen’s brief rule over Iceland is sometimes erroneously referred to as a revolution. Although it’s an interesting period in Icelandic history that also demonstrates Iceland’s connection to larger events on the continent, this sailor’s mutiny had little lasting effect on the broader direction of Icelandic political history, excepting of course the unique flag. 

Another early, unofficial flag of Iceland consisted of a white falcon on a blue field. Falcons had long been an important export from Iceland, as they were much desired among European nobility as hunting animals. In fact, to this day, Fálkahúsið, or the Falcon House, can be seen bearing witness to this history, located in central Reykjavík at Hafnarstræti 1-3. Originally built at Bessastaðir (the current presidential residence), the Falcon House was used to store the birds prior to their export to Denmark. Still today, falcons can be seen adorning this building which now contains several shops and restaurants. 

As ideas of democracy and sovereignty began to stir among the burgeoning Romantic movement in the 19th century, the falcon and the colors blue and white emerged as national symbols. The painter Sigurður Guðmundsson is credited with designing the first Falcon Flag, finding it a more fitting national symbol than stockfish. The Falcon Flag quickly grew in popularity, with student groups adopting it in 1873, and it quickly became used more broadly. The falcon was also featured on the national coat of arms around this time. 

Due to harsh conditions under Danish rule, the late 19th century was also a period of significant emigration from Iceland, and the Falcon Flag enjoyed popularity among émigré communities in North America – the so-called “West Icelanders.” Up until the turn of the century, the Falcon Flag was flown widely at public gatherings and holidays. 

In 1897, the poet Einar Benediktson wrote an influential article arguing that the new Icelandic national flag should be a white cross on a blue field, in order to represent what were then considered the national colors, and the nation’s Christian heritage. 

This flag was first adopted by women’s associations around the turn of the 19th century, and it was likely flown for the first time in Reykjavík for Þjóðhátíð, a national festival, in 1897. After this, it spread in popularity throughout the first years of the 20th century. With ideas of national liberation spreading across the nation, several other ideas for the Icelandic flag circulated at this time, culminating in a 1906 students’ congress on the matter of the Icelandic flag, to which Alþingi (National Assembly) delegates were invited as well. Interestingly, Christian X, then the King of Denmark, ultimately weighed in on this debate. He advised against the white-blue flag, as he thought it was too similar to the Greek flag, which the Danish royal family had connections with. 

In the end, of course, the current flag of Iceland won out, but the “Hvítbláinn” (simply “White-Blue”) was considered to have been an especially popular choice, with many feeling a sense of nostalgia for it even to this day.

The current flag of Iceland, consisting of a sky-blue field with a red and white Nordic cross, was first publicly recognized on June 19, 1915 in a decree by Christian X, King of Denmark.

 The legal status of the Icelandic flag was then first codified on June 17, 1944, the day of Icelandic Independence from Denmark. Although the laws only came into effect later in August of that year, they were the very first laws passed by the President of Iceland as a new, sovereign state. 

The Icelandic flag is based off the pattern known to vexillologists as the Nordic cross, which is a style of flag adopted by every modern Nordic nation, and many other regions. The Shetland and Orkney islands off the coast of Scotland, for example, also feature Nordic crosses, due to the strong historical connection in these regions to Scandinavia. 

The first-ever historical example of the Nordic cross was the Dannebrog, or the cross of the Kingdom of Denmark. Its historical appearance is shrouded in myth, which continues to be an influential story to this day. According to legends, at the 13th-century Battle of Lyndanisse (which took place in modern-day Estonia), the flag is said to have fallen from the sky in an act of divine intervention, turning the tide of battle in the favor of the invading Danes against the local pagans. It has since served as a symbol of Christianity in the Nordic countries, and although it appeared already in the 13th century, it was not until 1625 that it was officially adopted as the flag of Denmark. Nevertheless, the Dannebrog remains the oldest historical flag in continuous use by a nation. 

The Scandinavian nations all have histories with deep connections to one another. Denmark, once a superpower of Northern Europe, owned Iceland and Norway throughout the Middle Ages. In fact, Norway didn’t gain independence from Denmark until the 19th century. In the late Middle Ages, from the end of the 14th century to the beginning of the 16th century, the Kalmar Union saw the unification of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and other possessions under one monarch to better compete with the powerful Hanseatic League – a confederation of merchants and German city-states in the Baltic area. Though the Kalmar Union was not continuous, it had a lasting impact on the region and tied the history and culture of these nations closely together. 

Although the relationship between larger nations and their possessions could be tense and complex, the historical ties of the region nevertheless meant that upon gaining independence, smaller states universally chose flags that represented their shared Scandinavian heritage. This means that today, the nations of Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and many other territories all share the same pattern of flag that we call the Nordic cross.