![[Flag of Greenland]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fflagspot.net%2fflags%2f..%2fimages%2fg%2fgl.gif)
image byZoltan Horvath, 6 June 2024
Official Name:Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat)
Capital:Nuuk (Godthab)
Flag adopted:21June 1985
Designer:
Coat of arms adopted:1 May 1989
See also:
The flag of Greenland, or Kalaallit Nunaat, celebrated its 10anniversary in June 10, 1995. For this occasion, the GreenlandPost Office, issued some stamps and a brochure explaining theflag. The text in the brochure is written byThue Christiansen,the flag's designer. Christiansen makes some remarks about thenatural features of Greenland, and then goes on to account forthe symbolism of the flag:
"the large white part in the flag symbolises the ice cap and our fjords are represented by the red part in the circle. The white part of the circle symbolises the ice bergs and the pack ice, and the large red part in the flag represents the ocean."
In other interpretations the circle is seen as representingthe rising and setting sun.
Jan Oskar Engene, 18 October 1995
As for the design, the following specifications are given inthe brochure (mentioned above):
"The flag is 12 parts by 18, the white and red stripe are both 6 parts. The centre of the circle is set 7 parts from the hoist along the dividing line between the white and red, the radius being 4 parts. The upper part of the circle is red, the lower white."
Jan Oskar Engene, 18 October 1995
I found something that is very different from what we have. Source:http://www.erfalasorput.gl/erfalasorput-ima-atorneqartariaqarpoq-2.html#4and it has the construction sheet as follows (in Greenlandic):
Kalaallit Nunaata erfalasuata pisortatigoortumik nassuiarneqarnera imaappoq:
Kalaallit erfalasuat sanimut takinermigut qitermigut qaqortumikaappaluttumillu avitaavoq. Qitermigullu erfalasulerfimmut qaninnerusumikpaarlaattunik qalipaatilimmik ammalortortaqarluni. Ammalortup qiterpiaaniiterfalasup qummut ammullu killingata annertussusia 1,5 radiusiuvoq radius tassa ammallorissup silliata affaa erfalasup erfalasulerfimmutqaninnerata sinaanut 1,75 radiusiulluni kiisalu erfalasup avammut naaneranut2,7025 radiusiulluni.
An image with these specifications can be seen athttp://www.erfalasorput.gl/files/images/erfalasoq.png
I am not sure where this website cites the specifications, but it seems to methis is a flag association since it contains other things related to the flag,such as songs and poems dedicated to it.
The sun is the same, so is the bi-color, but it seems the proportions wereshorter than 2:3.
Zachary Harden, 27 February 2011
The flag specs given at this website (all be them somewhat more complex)produce the same flag as we show, and the specs quoted by Jan Oskar are in exactaccord with those issued by Ministry of Greenland Order No. 305 dated 24 June1985 some ten years earlier.
The flag should be a horizontal bi-colour in proportions of 2:3, with the diskat 2:3 of flag height centred at a point 7/18 from the hoist.
Flag is pictured in 2:3 with the disk correctly placed , but there is obviouslya mistake in the figures since they add up to a ridiculous ratio of 3000:44525and that they should (in fact) be 2,75 plus 1.75 - although why on earth notshow them the other way around with 1.75 to the start of the disk?)
Christopher Southworth, 28 February 2011
Interestingly, the text (at least, the numbers in the text) don't refer toany extremity of the disc, but to the centre, as you might expect. They do stillrefer to a 2:3 flag with a bit shaved off the fly, though.
The specific flag sizes listed later on the page are also all just less than2:3, more or less similar to the 1200:1781 given in the construction sheet. Thesizes given are:
96x142cm (for a 4.8m flagpole)
108x160cm (5.4m)
120x178cm (6m)
132x196cm (6,6m)
144x214cm (7.2m)
156x232cm (7.8m)
168x250cm (8.4m)
180x268cm (9m)
Jonathan Dixon, 28 February 2011
The Norden website had a page about Greenlandic flag with color specification in three color systems:
http://www.norden.org/en/the-nordic-region/the-nordic-flags/greenlands-flag (Pantone 032c)
Other sources for colors:
The Olympic Flag Manuals are not relevant in case of Greenland, because it is not member of IOC.
The Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00] gives approximate color in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Red: Pantone 032c, CMYK 0-90-90-0
The Album des Pavillons 2023 already specifies the colors of the flags in three color systems.
Red: Pantone 032c, CMYK 0-89-68-0, RGB 239-51-64
Vexilla Mundi gives colors in Pantone system: PMS White, and PMS 185C (red).
Wikipedia doesn t give color specification, but states that the colours of the flag are the same as those of the flag of Denmark. (it would be Pantone 186C)
Flag Color Codes gives the following color values:
Red: Hex. # D00C33, RGB 208-12-51, CMYK 0-94-76-18, Pantone 186c, RAL 3028
White: Hex. # FFFFFF, RGB 255-255-255, CMYK 0-0-0-0, Pantone N/A, RAL N/A
Zoltan Horvath, 6 June 2024
The flag is calledErfalasorput (meaning 'our flag'),but is also calledAappalaaroq - 'the red'. This term alsoused to be applied to the Danish flag. In Thue Christiansen'swords:
"The colours are the same as 'Dannebrog' (the Danish national flag) and thus we can also continue to call our flag Aappalaartoq, 'the red'."
This was probably the reason why the design won over theproposed green and white Scandinavian cross design.
Jan Oskar Engene, 18 October 1995
The first serious proposal for a Greenland flag came in 1973when five people suggested that green-white-blue flag might beappropriate.
This inspired other people to put forward their own designs, andin 1974 a Greenland paper published 11 proposals. All except onewas a Scandinavian cross design. However, in a vote organized bythe paper, Dannebrog was still the most favoured flag.
The Home Rule government organized a design contest in 1980. 555proposals were sent in, 293 of them from Greenland. TheGovernment was unable to agree on a design, and later invitedartists to submit more designs. In the final decision, the redand white flag with the circle won over the green and white flagproposed by Achen (by 14 votes to 11).
Several people were dissatisfied with the decision not to adopt aScandinavian cross flag. However, the flag now seems to have beenaccepted and appreciated.
Jan Oskar Engene, 10 March 1996
On 1 May 2010, Greenland issued a 7 DKK stamp to celebrate the Greenland flaghad been adopted 25 years earlier. The stamp was designed by Thue Christiansen,the same artist who originally designed the flag itself. It probably doesn'tcome as a surprise that it shows the flag:http://www.telepost.gl/kl-gl/presse/pressemeddelelser/2010/sider/270410.aspx
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 February 2011
If you want to read a detailed account of the flag ofGreenland, this is the article to look for:
Inge Kleivan: 'The creation of Greenland's new national symbol:the flag', in:Folk: Journal of the Danish EthnographicSociety, Vol. 30, 1988, pp. 32-56 (published annually inCopenhagen) [kLe88].
Jan Oskar Engene, 18 October 1995
There is a story about the origin of Greenland's name. Thefirst settler in Greenland, Erik the Red, is reported in oldIcelandic sagas to have named the new country Greenland toattract other settlers there. Some historians, anyway, haveclaimed that due to climatic changes, weather in Greenland inthe Middle Ages might have been much warmer than nowadays.
Ivan Sache, 3 September 2001
When Norwegian whalers settled on the east coast of Greenland80-100 years ago, didn't they first call it New Sunnmore andadopted a flag inspired by the Norwegian flag?
from the message board, 30 January 2000
"Eirik Raudes land," was the name given to Norwegianoccupied East Greenland (occupation was made formal by theNorwegian government in 1931 shortly after the land was taken inpossession for Norway by private persons). No flag was adopted.The case was brought to the International Court of Justice whichruled in favour of Denmark. The Norwegian government acceptedthis decision and the governor went home.
Jan Oskar Engene, 31 January 2000
From BBC News:
A government vowing to press for greater independence fromDenmark has been formed in Greenland, following elections lastweek.
The two governing parties are the left-leaning Siumut party andInuit Atagatigiit (Inuit Brotherhood) who between them hold 18out of 31 seats in the parliament.
Greenland has been semi-autonomous since 1979, but Denmarkremains in charge of foreign and defence policy for the 56,000islanders.
The new government has adopted a 26-point programme, whichpledges to push for greater autonomy in foreign affairs, and tohold a referendum on full independence in 2005.
Jan Zrzavy, 9 December 2002
