---
title: "Flag of Sweden: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Sweden flag stands for, its official 5:8 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted. Plus the flags it gets mistaken for."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/sweden/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Sweden

**The flag of Sweden: A blue field with a yellow Nordic cross offset toward the hoist.**

Ratio 5:8 · current design adopted 1906

*[Flag drawn on the page: Sweden]*

The colours are lifted directly from the national arms, a blue shield with three gold crowns that has been in use since the fourteenth century. The current specification dates from 1906, when Sweden removed the union mark after the dissolution of the union with Norway. Legend attributes the design to King Eric IX seeing a gold cross in a blue sky before a crusade, which is a story shaped to match the Danish one and has no contemporary support. Swedish law specifies the shades as NCS colours rather than Pantone, which is why online reproductions vary more than most.

## Flags it gets confused with

*[Flag drawn on the page: Sweden, Finland]*

*Drawn at each flag’s own official ratio, which is itself the difference in some of these pairs.*

| Flag | How to tell them apart |
| --- | --- |
| Finland | Finland is a white field with a blue cross — the same palette, inverted and cooler. |

## 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** (#005293) — From the Swedish coat of arms — three gold crowns on blue
- **Yellow** (#FECB00) — The gold of those crowns

- **Ratio:** 5:8
- **Current design adopted:** 1906
- **Colours:** blue, yellow

## Common questions

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

A blue field with a yellow Nordic cross offset toward the hoist.

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

Blue: from the Swedish coat of arms — three gold crowns on blue. Yellow: the gold of those crowns.

### How do you tell the Sweden flag from the Finland one?

Finland is a white field with a blue cross — the same palette, inverted and cooler.

### When was the Sweden flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1906, and its official ratio is 5:8.

## Related pages

- [Sweden](https://atoneplace.net/country/sweden/)
- [The flag of Finland](https://atoneplace.net/flag/finland/)
- [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

- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place (/about/)