---
title: "Flag of Estonia: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Estonia flag stands for, its official 7:11 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/estonia/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Estonia

**The flag of Estonia: Three equal horizontal bands of blue, black and white.**

Ratio 7:11 · current design adopted 1990

*[Flag drawn on the page: Estonia]*

The flag began in 1881 as the banner of a student fraternity at the University of Tartu and was blessed at Otepää in 1884 — that original cloth survives and is the oldest surviving Estonian tricolour. Black on a national flag as a central band is rare, and Estonia's reading of it as the soil and the hard past is unusually direct. It was flown from Tall Hermann tower in Tallinn until 1940, banned through the Soviet period, and raised there again in February 1989. The 7:11 ratio is used by no other country.

## What the colours mean

*Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.*

- **Blue** (#0072CE) — The sky, lakes and sea; also faith and loyalty
- **Black** (#000000) — The soil, and the dark past of the Estonian people
- **White** (#FFFFFF) — Snow, birch bark, and the hope of a brighter future

- **Ratio:** 7:11
- **Current design adopted:** 1990
- **Colours:** blue, black, white

## Common questions

### What does the flag of Estonia look like?

Three equal horizontal bands of blue, black and white.

### What do the colours of the Estonia flag mean?

Blue: the sky, lakes and sea; also faith and loyalty. Black: the soil, and the dark past of the Estonian people. White: snow, birch bark, and the hope of a brighter future.

### When was the Estonia flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1990, and its official ratio is 7:11.

## Related pages

- [Estonia](https://atoneplace.net/country/estonia/)
- [Every flag with blue in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/blue/)
- [The flag of United States](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-states/)
- [The flag of India](https://atoneplace.net/flag/india/)
- [The flag of United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-kingdom/)
- [The flag of France](https://atoneplace.net/flag/france/)
- [The flag of Russia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/russia/)
- [The flag of Brazil](https://atoneplace.net/flag/brazil/)
- [The flag of Australia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/australia/)
- [The flag of South Korea](https://atoneplace.net/flag/south-korea/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]