Category: Typical Nordic Things

Nordic flags explained

Origin and meaning of Nordic flags and other Nordic cross flags explained

Tomorrow, 23 March, is Nordic day, on this day the Helsinki treaty, establishing the Nordic Council, was signed in 1962. Its member are all Nordic countries and autonomous regions – including Åland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

In honour of this occurence, I am writing this post explaining Nordic (cross) flags. Scandinavians and Nordic peoples in general really like to use their flag, which are common to see in various forms and occasions, from pennants to wooden table flags, as decoration for a birthday or on a Christmas tree. But let’s go back to history!

Where Nordic flags come from: Dannebrog, the oldest flag in the world

the Nordic cross flags originated from the Danish flag, the oldest flag in the world! Also called Dannebrog, according to the legend it fell from the sky during a battle in Lyndanisse (today’s Estonian capital Tallinn) in 1219, turning 800 years old few years ago! 15th June is celebrated as Valdemarsdag in Denmark, from Valdemar Sejr, the king who fought in that battle.

The flag of the Kalmar Union, union of Scandinavia (or Denmark and Sweden, with Denmark reigning over Norway) 1397-1523, also had a Nordic cross. The Danish flag then became the model for fellow Scandinavian countries:

Sweden officially got its flag 300 years later, with a design from the 16th century, with the colors -yellow and blue – taken from the coat of arms dating back to 1275. The day on which the flag is celebrated is June 6th, Svenska flaggans dag.

Norway‘s current flag appeared in 1821 – picked among a few different flag design proposals. It was the first Nordic flag with 3 colors, maybe inspired by the French revolution wanting to get rid of the Danes…parliament member Fredrik Meltzer from Bergen said ‘it means freedom, as the French flag, and in the Flags of the Dutch and Americans, and the Union of the English’. You will see a sea of flags everywhere on 17th May, Norway’s constitution day

2oth century Nature-inspired Iceland and Finland, Faroe islands and Åland

Iceland‘s official flag became official in 1915, based off its nature: according to the Flag Act the flag colours are “sky blue”, “fire red” and “snow white”. Iceland had previously an unofficial flag called Hvítbláinn, the ‘white-blue’, used by Icelandic nationalist activists from 1897 and after 1915 partly abandoned due to its similarity to other flags. Today it is still used by the Icelandic Youth Association among others.

Finland‘s flag, called Siniristilippu “blue cross flag”, was adopted in 1917. The colors would represent the lakes Finland is rich of and snow. Finland has a Day of the Flag, Suomen lipun päivä, which also happens to be Midsummer (or Juhannus in Finnish), a very important day for the Nordics! On this day the Finnish flag is raised on Midsummer eve on 6pm, until 9pm of midsummer itsself.

Faroe Islands flag is called Merkið “drape / mark”, with a white background symbolizing the foam of the sea and the pure, radiant sky of the Faroe Islands, while the old Faroese blue and red colours are reminiscent of other Scandinavian and Nordic flags, also reminding the colors of traditional Faroese clothing. Faroese students in Denmark strongly felt the need to have their own flag, and in 1919 their newly created flag was hoisted for the first time by a student in his home village. On 25 April 1940, the British Authorities officially recognised the Merkið as the Marine Flag of the Faroe Islands. This day became later the Faroese flag day, Flaggdagur.

Åland islands, the autonomous Swedish-speaking archipelago belonging to Finland, mixes Sweden and Finland in its flag, where the red cross represented Finland as the color of its coat of arms. The red cross used to be blue, with the colors taken from a song festival in the capital Mariehamn. Since 1954 it has been the official flag of Åland, April’s last Sunday is the flag day, Ålands flaggas dag.

Regional, minority and other unofficial nordic cross flags

On this map I added official or widely used flags, not adding therefore Normandy and proposed flags
  • Skåne – The flag of Scania is actually quite old, and has its origin in the historical coat of arms of Lund’s (Danish) archibishop of Lund, older than the Danish Dannebrog! The Nordic cross flag was made up in the 1800s though. The third Sunday of July is Skåne flag day. skaneflaggan.nu
  • Finnish/Swedish minority: Flag mixes – Finland’s Swedes (looks actually the same as Skåne flag, red stands for Finland as above for Åland) and Swedish Finns, Finland’s flag with a yellow lining around the cross.
  • Bornholm – The island’s unofficial flag is from the 70s, designed by Bent Kaas. Green would represent the nature on the Danish island. It is mainly used in tourism and to mark local products.
  • Unofficial Nordic cross flags have been created for Swedish regions as Norrland, Bohuslän, Småland among others, and the Swedish Baltic Sea islands of Öland, and Gotland, although these are not really used.

Nations with Nordic ties- scandi heritage

  • Shetland and Orkney for their Nordic heritage, historical and cultural ties of the Scottish islands with Scandinavia. Shetland‘s flag was created in the 60s for the 500 years since its transfer to Scotland from Norway (after belonging to Norway for as long). A Nordic cross with Scottish colors. Orkney‘s flag was chosen in 2007, after a public consultation (all proposed flags were a Nordic cross). Yellow and red from Scottish and Norwegian royal coats of arms, Blue representing Scotland and the Sea.  
  • Normandy‘s Saint Olaf flag: mainly used by regionalists movements, its name comes from the Norwegian kind Olaf Haraldson, probably baptised in Rouen, remarking the region’s viking origin.
  • Nordic cross flags were also proposed for Estonia in 1919, to remark its Nordic (rather than Baltic) identity and historical ties.
  • A cool Nordic cross flag was also proposed for Frisia, probably due to the part of Scandinavian heritage Frisian people (scattered between the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark) have.

Nordic indigenous nations without Nordic cross: Greenland and Sami people

Greenland and Sami people have a flag since 1985 and 1986, both Inuit and Sami people adopted a sun/moon symbol instead of a cross, more typical of indigenous people and their connection to nature. the sun symbol was kept however in the same left-aligned position as Nordic crosses.
Greenland has had a Nordic cross flag proposal – you might guess, green was in it- , but the Greenlandic iceberg landscape-inspired design by Tue Christiansen was eventually chosen instead. its name is Erfalasorput,”our flag”.
In the Sami flag sun and moon are represented as a circle. The first Sami flag, designed in 1977 by Synnøve Persens, was the simpler, red and blue with the yellow line, inspired by Sami traditional clothing. Astrid Båhl added the Green line (color more present in South sami clothing) and the circle.

sources

  • Norway: stortinget.no – Det Norske Flagg – et flagg i frihetens farger
  • Iceland: government.is
  • Faroe islands: faroeislands.fo
  • Åland: regeringen.ax
  • Greenland: dr.dk – video about the Greenlandic flag (Danish)
  • Sami flag: Store Norske Leksikon
  • more: britishcountyflags.com, skaneflaggan.nu, patrimoine-normand.com

7 fun facts about Lucia, Sweden’s pagan saint

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DIY Danish Christmas Hearts

Julehjerter, a common Christmas ornament In Denmark and Norway.

As i had already mentioned talking about Christmas symbols in Nordic countries, a common homemade Christmas ornament in Scandinavia is pleated hearts, very common in Denmark, known as Julehjerter, and Norway, where they are called Juletrekurv.

Children make them with their family with paper of different colours, although they are mostly red and white. They have been made for around 150 years: the oldest known guide to making pleated Christmas hearts is found in an 1871 edition of the Danish journal Nordisk Husflidstidende. A 1873 pleated heart can be seen at the National museum in Oslo and one from 1866 at H. C. Andersen house in Odense!

Make your own Julehjerter

I made my very own, simple version of them, so they are not really a basket as the Norwegian name says, and I used strings to hang them on the tree.

what I used:
  • colored paper (the most traditional version is white & red, but do as you please). I used leftover paper we had at home.
  • Scissors, obviously and something to make holes on paper, as pins
  • Strings
Process:
  1. cut paper, put two sheets on top of each other when cutting so it is of the same size.
  2. cut the lines to intertwine the two pieces: they can be all of the same size or the two inner parts narrower.

3. Intertwine the pieces: depending on how you cut the lines you will have a slightly different pattern

4. Make a hole and put the string in it

Your Christmas Heart is ready to be hung on your tree or wherever you want!

Please share with me your Julehjerter if you happen to make any 🙂

Glædelig Jul!

the MOOMINS

The Moomins, created by Tove Jansson, are the most famous and beloved Finnish characters, First appeared in books, then animated series. Still immensely popular in the Nordic region and Japan, they are feature in countless merchandise items, especially mugs!

The Moomins are a family of hippo-looking characters, created by Swedish-speaking Finnish illustrator Tove Jansson, who created Moomins during the Second World War, as ‘an escape from reality in a fairytale world’. Moomins are still incredibly popular in Nordic countries, and are often used as a Finnish cultural symbol.

moomin books mug tissues

Tove Jansson wrote and illustrated several books and strips between 1945 and 1980, which got translated into 38 languages.
The first animated series is from 1969, but the most popular is from the 90s, and the most recent is from the 2020s.
Other series were made with puppets and cutouts. and there’s even a Moomin opera! Here’s the Moomin timeline.

Moomin Characters

The core family of the moomins is Moomin himself muumipeikko in Finnish, and his parents, Moominmamma and Moominpappa, live in their iconic cylindric blue house (for a while they lived in a lighthouse and a theatre too). But the ‘family’ is not limited to them, and has incorporated other members:

Moomin Pixel art I made!
  • the fearful Sniff
  • the naughty Little My, who teaches that being angry is okay too, sometimes.
  • Moomintroll’s girlfriend Snork Maiden,
  • the vagabond and freedom lover Snufkin, an artist soul,connected to a typical Finnish feeling of melancholy and solitude

Other characters who often appear are:

  • the bossy and stubborn Hemulens and the anxious Fillyjonk, representing the petty bourgeoisie of the time when Tove invented the Moomin world
  • the wise and pragmatic Too-Ticky,
  • Mymla, Little My’s big sister.
  • To the east borders of Moomin Valley there are lonely mountains (Ensliga Bergen), a mysteryous place where the monster Groke lives, who freezes everything she walks on and is hard to communicate with.

Many characters are actually invented after people from Tove Jansson’s life, as her parents , Too Ticky – her partner Tuulikki Pietilä.

Letters i decorated with Moomin art.

Life in the peaceful Moomin world is often about enjoying small pleasures, as Moomin says:

I only want to live in peace and plant potatoes and dream!‘

‘One can’t be too dangerous, if they like to eat pancakes. Especially with jam on it’.

Moomin in Finland

Moomins are still incredibly popular and easy to find in Finland: on Fazer candy and cookies, on finnish postage stamps (since 1988)… but the most classic item to own is probably moomin mugs: produced by Arabia since the 1950s.
You can even fly on a Moomin FINNAIR plane, which of course fly to Japan.

moomin mugs shop
moomin fazer candy

Most Finns (and maybe Swedes or other Nordic peoples as well) have some kind of Moomin object. Even the former Finnish President Tarja Halonen has been known to wear a Moomin watch!

spot the moomins inside this Swedish house!

If you travel to Finland, you can also visit some Moomin-themed attractions:

  • Moomin World theme park (in Finnish Muumimaailma) in Naantali, near Turku, in 1993.
  • Tampere Art Museum has a Moomin section: Muumimuseo, which contains around 2000 original works of Tove Jansson, including a model of the Moominhouse, which Tove Jansson contributed to build.
  • Moomin ice cave is a 30 meters below of a Spa Hotel near Kuopio, it includes Moomin-themed ice sculptures, and offers activities for families with children.

Moomin shops, cafes and attractions in the world

The real Moomin Boom started in the 1990s, with the Japanese animated series Tales From Moominvalley. Moomin books were already bestsellers in Nordic and Baltic countries, but the animation made Moomin extremely popular in Japan among others.

Japan has a Moomin-themed park since 2015: MoominValley Park, in the prefecture of Saitama, near Tokyo.

Besides Moomin shops in Nordic countries (I have been in the Gothenburg one, Sweden), there are quite a few in Asia (most in Japan, but also Korea, Thailand, China and Hong Kong), and there is one in the USA, but not NYC or LA – in Hawaii! Not surprisingly due to the Japanese tourists…

lamp and glass bought in Gothenburg, Sweden
Moomin corner of ArOS art museum in Aarhus, Denmark.
moomin gacha gacha japan
Japanese gacha-gacha moomin!

Moomin themed-cafes are very popular in East Asian countries: other than in Finland various pop-up cafes have appeared now and then in Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan.
You could eat a moomin shaped meal in front of a giant moomin character plush there! Moomin Cafes.

You can check out all currently open Moomin shops, attractions and cafes on Moomin official website.

Subscribe for more info and moominous posts:

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Nordic culture experienced in Japan: Moomins, Dala horse stationery, Nordic-inspired foods and books about Scandinavia seen by the Japanese.

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Puffins: Iceland & Faroe’s mascot

The lovely sea parrot living around the North Atlantic coasts, symbol of Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica), Lundi in Icelandic and Faroese, is a species of seabird in the auk family. The Atlantic puffin moves to North Atlantic coasts in summer and breeds in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, the Shetland and Orkney Islands, Norway, Greenland, Newfoundland and Labrador, and as far south as Maine in the west and Britain in the east. More than 90% of the global population is found in Europe  and colonies in Iceland alone are home to 60% of the world’s Atlantic puffins, in particular Westman islands (Vestmannaeyjar).

Cutouts from magazines, I can’t resist to puffin pictures!

The generic name Fratercula comes from the Medieval Latin fratercula, “friar”, a reference to the black and white plumage which resembles monastic robes. The vernacular name “puffin” comes from puffed in the sense of swollen. The striking appearance, large colourful bill, waddling gait, and behaviour of this bird have given rise to nicknames such as “clown of the sea” and “sea parrot”.

The beak is the most distinctive feature. From the side, it is broad and triangular, but viewed from above, it is narrow. The half near the tip is orange-red, yellow, and blue-greyish. A puffin beak can contain 12 up to 18 fish at once! The Atlantic puffin is sturdily built with a thick-set neck and short wings and tail. It is about 30 cm and weighs 400-600 g.

Traditions in Iceland and Faroe Islands

A tradition exists on the Icelandic island of Heimaey (part of Westman islands) for the children to rescue young puffins, a fact recorded in Bruce McMillan’s photo-illustrated children’s book Nights of the Pufflings (1995). The fledglings emerge from the nest and try to make their way to the sea, but sometimes get confused, perhaps by the street lighting, ending up by landing in the village. The children collect them and liberate them to the safety of the sea.

Palli the Puffin greeting travellers coming to Iceland in Reykjavik airport (picture by Mundi Lundi, page about a puffin who was found injured in the Icelandic capital and the nursed back to health)
Faroe islands 1978 postal stamp by Holger Philipsen

Puffins have been hunted by man since time immemorial, coastal communities and island dwellers with few natural resources at their disposal didn’t have much else to hunt besides fish and seabirds.

They are still caught and eaten in Iceland and the Faroe Islands A typical device used in the Faroes to catch them was a fleyg. This was a long pole with a neton the end. a skilled hunter could gather 200–300 in a day!

Puffins in logos and symbols

  • The Norwegian island municipality of Værøy, part of the Lofoten, has an Atlantic puffin as its civic emblem.
  • the name of the island of Lundy (UK) might come from Norse lund-ey or “puffin island”. The Vikings might have found the island a useful refuge and restocking point after their depredations on the mainland . The island issued its own coins, and in 1929, its own stamps with denominations in “puffins”.
  • The paperbook publisher Penguin Books introduced a range of books for children under the Puffin Books brand in 1939. The demand was so great that a children’s magazine called Puffin Post was established, Puffin Post.

Puffin characters in pop culture

  • The Swan Princess -Puffin
  •  Madagascar – Hans
  • Happy Feet 2 – Sven is a puffin who pretends to be a penguin
  • Puffin Rock – A Netflix original cartoon about the puffin Oona and her little brother Baba

Icelandic and Faroese mascotte in the world

Puffins are often used to promote these Nordic islands, ICELAND MARKET in Nagoya, Japan, still has puffins in its logo and gadgets in what used to be its cafe, proudly representing Iceland.

FRAMTAK, a Faroese site, now inactive, promotes the Nordic archipelago and has a section with comics about Ludvík Lundi (“the puffin with glasses”), ideal if you want to practice Faroese!

Puffins in danger

In most countries, Atlantic puffins are now protected by legislation, and in the countries where hunting is still permitted, strict laws prevent overexploitation, but calls have been made for an outright ban on hunting them in Iceland because of concern over the rapid and ongoing population decline in its European range especially since 2000. In 2015, the status of this species was upgraded from “least concern” to “vulnerable”.  Some of the causes of population decline may be increased predation by gulls and skuas, the introduction of rats, cats, dogs, and foxes onto some islands used for nesting, contamination by toxic residues, drowning in fishing nets, and climate change.  Based on current trends, the European population will decline an estimated 50–79% between 2000 and 2065.

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