By an ordinance issued by the government of Sweden, a number of days of the calendar year are designated as official flag flying days when the Swedish flag is flown on all public flagpoles and buildings. Hoisting of the Swedish flag on private flagpoles on these days is strongly encouraged but not mandatory.
The time of day at which the flag is raised and lowered is generally dictated by the position of the sun, but there are also guidelines specified by military tradition. The flag is hoisted at 08:00 in the summer and 09:00 in the winter, and it is lowered by sunset but never later than 21:00. In parts of Sweden north of the Arctic Circle, the sun does not rise at all for several weeks during winter. For example, in the northern town of Kiruna, the flag is flown from 09:00 until 11:50.
List of official flag flying days Date English name Local name Remarks 1 January New Year's Day 28 January Name day of the King King Carl XVI Gustaf 12 March Name day of the Crown Princess Crown Princess Victoria First Sunday after the first full moon on or after 21 March Easter Sunday 30 April King's Birthday King Carl XVI Gustaf 1 May May Day 29 May Veterans Day Seventh Sunday after Easter Sunday Pentecost 50 days after Easter 6 June National Day of Sweden and Flag Day , Flag day since c. 1900, officially observed as national day since 1983, holiday since 2005 Saturday between 20 and 26 June Midsummer Day 14 July Victoria Day Crown Princess Victoria 8 August Name day of the Queen Queen Silvia Second Sunday of September during election years Election Day Elections held every four years 24 October United Nations Day 6 November Gustavus Adolphus Day Battle of Lützen (1632) 10 December Alfred Nobel Day The Nobel awards ceremony 23 December Queen's Birthday Queen Silvia 25 December Christmas Day
See also Flag flying day Public holidays in Sweden Swedish festivities Name days in Sweden Du gamla, du fria Flag flying days in Finland Flag flying days in Norway
References