The flag of Norway
Norway's flag is Denmark's with a blue cross laid inside the white one — a design chosen in 1821 while Norway was in union with Sweden and wanted to acknowledge both neighbours. Iceland's flag is the same three colours with red and blue swapped, which is the single most reliable way to tell the two apart. The design contains the flags of six other countries within it if you crop it correctly, a party trick that circulates regularly and is broadly true. Norway used a "herring salad" ensign with the Swedish union mark in the canton until 1899, when parliament removed it after three votes and a royal veto.
Flags it gets confused with
Drawn at each flag’s own official ratio, which is itself the difference in some of these pairs.
| Flag | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Iceland | The colours are swapped: Iceland has a blue field with a red cross outlined in white. Norway has a red field with a blue cross. |
| Denmark | Denmark is plain red and white, with no blue. |
What the colours mean
- Red
#BA0C2FThe field, taken from Denmark - White
#FFFFFFThe outline, taken from Denmark - Blue
#00205BThe inner cross, taken from Sweden
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.
- Ratio
- 8:11
- Current design adopted
- 1821
- Colours
- red, white, blue
Common questions
- What does the flag of Norway look like?
- A red field with a blue Nordic cross outlined in white, offset toward the hoist.
- What do the colours of the Norway flag mean?
- Red: the field, taken from Denmark. White: the outline, taken from Denmark. Blue: the inner cross, taken from Sweden.
- How do you tell the Norway flag from the Iceland one?
- The colours are swapped: Iceland has a blue field with a red cross outlined in white. Norway has a red field with a blue cross.
- When was the Norway flag adopted?
- The current design dates from 1821, and its official ratio is 8:11.
Related pages
- Norway Capital, area, population and currency
- The flag of Iceland Routinely mistaken for this one
- The flag of Denmark Routinely mistaken for this one
- Every flag with red in it
- The flag of United States Ratio 10:19
- The flag of United Kingdom Ratio 1:2
- The flag of Canada Ratio 1:2
- The flag of France Ratio 2:3
- The flag of China Ratio 2:3
- The flag of Germany Ratio 3:5
- The flag of Russia Ratio 2:3
- The flag of Italy Ratio 2:3
Sources
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)