The national flag of Sweden () consists of a yellow or gold Nordic cross (i.e. a horizontal cross extending to the edges, with the crossbar closer to the hoist than the fly) on a field of light blue. The Nordic cross design traditionally represents Christianity. The design and colours of the Swedish flag are believed to have been inspired by the present coat of arms of Sweden of 1442, which is blue divided quarterly by a cross pattée of gold. Blue and yellow have been used as Swedish colours at least since Magnus III's royal coat of arms of 1275.
Specifics Ratio and colour scheme The Swedish flag is one of only five that use the ratio 5:8, the others being the flags of Argentina, Guatemala, Palau, and Poland.
It is one of only five flags that currently use the colour scheme of blue and yellow, the others being the flags of Kazakhstan, Palau, Ukraine, and the European Union.
State flag and civil ensign The dimensions of the Swedish flag are 5:2:9 horizontally and 4:2:4 vertically. The dimensions of the Swedish flag with a triple-tail are 5:2:5:8 horizontally and 4:2:4 vertically. The colours of the flag are officially established through the Natural Color System to be NCS 0580-Y10R for the shade of yellow, and NCS 4055-R95B for the shade of blue. They are also specified to Pantone PMS 301 C/U for blue and PMS 116 or PMS 109 U for yellow. The square-cut Swedish state flag is identical to the civil ensign. The Swedish law does not regulate the design of the Swedish pennant, but it is recommended that its colour scheme should correspond with that of the flag.
Colour values Blue (Blå)Yellow (Gul)SystemNCSPantoneNCSPantoneColour name4055-R95B301 C0580-Y10R116 CHEX#005583#004B87#FFC200#FFCD00RGB 0, 85, 1310, 75, 135255, 194, 0255, 205, 0CMYK100, 35, 0, 49100, 44, 0, 470, 24, 100, 00, 20, 100, 0
Construction sheet
Naval ensign
The triple-tailed flag (, ) is used as a naval ensign (). Its overall ratio, including the tails, is 1:2. The flag is also used as the Swedish naval jack (). The jacks are smaller than the ensigns, but they have the same proportions. The Swedish swallowtail flag was originally the King's personal emblem, or the emblem representing a command conferred by the King. It was at first two-pointed, but by the mid-17th century, the distinctive swallowtail with tongue appeared. The flag is also flown by the defence ministry, while civil ministries fly square flags.
Royal flag
The royal flag () is identical to the triple-tailed naval ensign, but has in its centre a white field with the greater or the lesser coat of arms surrounded by the Order of the Seraphim, which has the monarch as its grand master. The monarch personally decides about the specific use of the royal flag.
Generally, the king and queen use a royal flag with the greater national coat of arms. Other members of the royal house use a royal flag with the lesser national coat of arms. On naval ships the flag of the king is raised together with a split pennant with the greater national coat of arms. Likewise the flag of the heir apparent is raised together with a split pennant with the lesser national coat of arms on naval ships.
The Swedish Marshal of the Realm (Riksmarskalken) has published a series of decisions regarding the royal flag of Sweden. In a decision of 6 April 1987, rules are defined on how to fly the royal flag at the Royal Palace of Stockholm.Riksmarskalkens beslut den 6. April 1987, för flaggning. The royal flag with the greater national coat of arms is hoisted at the Royal Palace when H.M. the King is within the realm, and is upholding his duties as the Head of state. The royal flag with the lesser national coat of arms is hoisted at the Royal Palace, if by reason of illness, foreign travel or for any other cause, the King is unavoidably prevented from performing his duties; a member of the Royal House under the valid order of succession who is not prevented therefrom, assumes and performs the duties of the Head of State in the capacity of Regent ad interim. The "plain" triple-tailed flag (without the coat of arms) is flown at the Royal Palace when the Riksdag has appointed a person to serve, at a Government order, as Regent ad interim when no member of the Royal House under the valid order of succession is in a position to serve. The three-tailed war flag is also flown at the Royal Palace when the Speaker, or, in his unavoidable absence, one of the Deputy Speakers, serves, at a Government order, as Regent ad interim when no member of the Royal House under the valid order of succession is in a position to serve.This is also one of the royal flags, and rumours that the three-tailed war flag is mainly chosen since the Royal Palace is the home of the Palace Guard – is not correct.
Under King Carl XVI Gustaf, king since 1973, the plain triple-tailed flag has flown at the Royal Palace only once. This occurred on 2–3 July 1988, when the King went on a private visit to Wuppertal, West Germany; at the same time, the Duke of Halland, his uncle and the only person in the line of succession, was on a private visit to Sainte-Maxime, France. The government therefore ordered the speaker of the Riksdag, Ingemund Bengtsson, to serve as regent ad interim for two days.
History Royal banners Prior to the adoption of the national Swedish flag featuring the Nordic cross, there were Royal banners, mainly variations of the Royal's personal coat of arms (CoA). It is unclear if proto-heraldry existed in Sweden, but the High Medieval heraldry appears to have begun around the first half of the 13th century.
Many, if not most, CoA:s and royal symbols featured "golden" lions, either prone or upright, with the lion having a crowned head when it represented the sitting regent. The traditional blue field of the Swedish flag appears to have been present during this period, appearing on the CoA of House of Erik (reign: 1150–1220), and House of Bjälbo (reign: 1250–1364). Next to the blue field, three bend sinisters in silver were also standard going forward. These three colors: gold, blue, and silver, could be argued to be the first Swedish national colors. Royal CoA:s could also feature personal details, like red flowers on the CoA of Birger Jarl (Regent of Sweden: 1250–1266), and red hearts on the CoA Magnus Ladulås (King of Sweden: 1255–1275).
The bend sinisters in silver were used in various CoA:s and flags into the early modern period, still suriving in the Coat of arms of Sweden, and various others, such as the Coat of arms of Gothenburg. However, the bend sinisters started falling away as a National heraldic symbol due to the spread of the National emblem of Sweden, the Three Crowns, which features three golden crowns on a blue background since at least 1336. This ultimately sidelined silver as a national color of Sweden.
Nordic cross flag
The exact age of the Swedish flag featuring the Nordic cross is not known. Other cross flags, such as the Flag of Denmark, Flag of England, Flag of Constantinople, etc, started appearing already in the 13th century, and most likely influenced the Swedish flag design.
According to early modern legend and popular folklore, the 12th-century King Eric IX saw the sun shine against a golden cross in the sky (alternatively the sun shined like a cross) as he landed in Finland during the First Swedish Crusade in 1157. Seeing this as a sign from God he adopted the golden cross against a blue background as his banner.
The oldest recorded pictures of a blue cloth with a yellow cross date from the early 16th century, during the reign of King Gustav I. The first legal description of the flag was made in a royal warrant of 19 April 1562 as: "yellow in a cross fashioned on blue" ().Kongl. bref, den 19. April 1562 As stipulated in a royal warrant of 1569, the yellow cross was always to be borne on Swedish battle standards and banners. Prior to this, a similar flag appeared in the coat of arms of King John III's duchy, which is today Southwest Finland. The same coat of arms is still used by the province.
A potential predecessor to the Swedish flag with the Nordic cross could be the coat of arms of Sweden, introduced during the reign of King Charles VIII in 1448. The national coat of arms is a combination of King Albert's coat of arms of 1364 and King Magnus III's coat of arms of 1275, and is blue divided quarterly by a golden cross pattée. Other ideas claim that the Swedish flag was blue with a white cross before 1420, and became blue with a golden cross a century later during the early reign of King Gustav I.
Striped flags
Some of the first post-Kalmar Union flags used by the Swedish military featured wavy stripes on a blue field derived from the old bend sinisters on the Royal CoA:s. During the mid 16th century, one of these striped flags is depicted featuring a Nordic cross.
Triple-tailed flag A royal warrant of 6 November 1663, regulated the use of the triple-tailed flag, to be used only as a state flag and naval ensign.Plakat, av den 6. Nov. 1663, angående den åtskillnad som härefter bör observeras emellan de flaggor som Kongl. Maj:ts enskilda skepp och farkoster föra, så ock de skepps och farkosters flaggor, som private personer tillhöra och af dem brukas skola. According to the same royal warrant, merchant ships were only allowed to fly square-cut city flags in their respective provincial colours. In practice, however, the merchant fleet began using a square-cut civil ensign of the state flag. In a government instruction of ship building of 1730, this civil ensign should have the same proportions and colors as the state flag, with the notable difference of being square-cut.Tomas Rajalin, Nödig underrättelse om skiepz-byggeriet och der utaf härflytande högnödige och siöväsendet samt taklingen tilhörige proportioner, Carlscrona : 1730 In 1756, the use of pennants by private ships was prohibited.Kongl. Maj:ts förbud, den 19. November 1756, emot vimplars bruk på kofferdi- och privata fartyg.
Blue ensign A royal warrant of 18 August 1761, stipulated that an all blue triple-tailed flag to be used by the archipelago fleet, a branch of the army tasked with defending the archipelago along the Swedish coastlines. The commander of the fleet also had the right to order the use of the ordinary war ensign instead of the blue ensign when that was "appropriate".Kongl. bref, den 18. Augusti 1761 The blue flag was used until 1813.
Union between Sweden and Norway Union flags of 1815 and 1818 On 6 June 1815, a common military ensign was introduced for the two united kingdoms of Sweden and Norway. This flag was identical to the former triple-tailed military ensign of Sweden, with a white saltire on red to be included in the canton. Proposed by the Norwegian Prime Minister and unionist Peder Anker, the white saltire on a red background was supposed to symbolise Norway, as the country had previously been united with Denmark and initially continued to use the same flag as an independent country, but with the national arms in the canton.See further: Krigskollegii samt Förvaltningens af sjöärendena kungörelse, den 3 Maj 1815, om den för konungarikena Sverige och Norge fastställda örlogsflaggans allmänna anläggnade.
Norwegian ships continued to use the Danish civil ensign distinguished with the national arms in the canton north of Cape Finisterre, but had to fly the Swedish civil ensign in the Mediterranean to be protected from pirate attacks. A common civil ensign for both countries was introduced in 1818, on the pattern of the naval ensign, but square-cut. This flag was optional for Swedish vessels, but compulsory for Norwegian ones in distant waters. In 1821, Norway adopted a new national civil ensign, identical to the present flag of Norway.