Greenland flag

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Erfalasorput
Flag of Greenland.svg
Vexillological symbol : Civil and service flags on land, commercial and service flags at sea? (Civil flag and official flag on land, commercial and official flag at sea)
Aspect ratio: 2: 3
Officially accepted: June 21, 1985

The Greenland flag was designed by the Greenlander Thue Christiansen .

Surname

The flag's name is Erfalasorput , which means “our flag” in Greenlandic . In addition, the name Aappalaaroq (Greenlandic for "the red") is in use, but it can also refer to the Danish flag (the Dannebrog ). In Greenland today, the Greenlandic and Danish flags are often shown side by side.

Description and meaning

construction

The flag of Greenland shows two horizontal bands of equal width, the upper one being white and the lower one being red. Above, slightly shifted towards the mast, lies a large disc, the upper half of which is red and the lower half white. The entire flag is 12 by 18 units; the disc has a diameter of 8 units, its center is 7 units from the mast and is centered vertically.

system red White
RGB 239-51-64 255-255-255
Hexadecimal color definition # EF3340 #FFFFFF

The design shows the setting sun when it's half sunk behind the horizon and reflected in the sea. The choice of colors indicates the centuries-old bond with Denmark. When the Greenland Post issued a sheet of special stamps together with Thue Christiansen in 1995 on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the flag , the designer stated that the white stripe represented the glaciers , the red stripe the ocean , the red semicircle the fjords and the white semicircle the icebergs and that Pack ice .

history

Five Greenlanders proposed their own flag in 1973 and presented a green, white and blue draft. In the following year, eleven proposals were submitted to a newspaper advertisement, all but one of which were based on a Scandinavian cross . In a vote among the readers, the Dannebrog was chosen as the most popular flag, so none of the designs were implemented.

  • 1st proposal

  • 2nd proposal

  • 3rd proposal

  • 4. Suggestion

In 1978 Greenland was granted self-government by Denmark ; it became an equal member in the Kingdom of Denmark. The Greenland government officially called for drafts for a new flag; 555 drafts were sent in response, 293 of them from Greenlanders. However, the committee convened to select flags did not come to a decision, so further drafts were called for. Ultimately, Christiansen's white and red design was almost preferred to a green and white design with a Scandinavian cross with 14:11 votes. The flag was officially declared the Greenlandic flag on June 21, 1985.

Flags of the municipalities

By December 31, 2008, Greenland was divided into 18 parishes, which in 2009 were merged into four parishes . All of these communities had their own coats of arms and these also on white flags in the center.

literature

Flag of Greenland on a building
  • Karl-Heinz Hesmer: Flags and coats of arms of the world. History and symbolism of the flags and coats of arms of all states. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, 1992. ISBN 3-570-01082-1

Web links

Commons : Flags of Greenland  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ [1] Nordic Co-operation
  2. ↑ Cf. Flags of the World - Greenland (Denmark): Meaning of the Flag