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<\/a>The Norwegian flag has become a global symbol for cool winter wear. (Based on phunkstarr\u2019s photo at http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/jonmelsa\/2897039322\/sizes\/m\/, released under the Creative Commons license: http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/)<\/p><\/div>\n
Det er Norge i r\u00f8dt, hvitt og bl\u00e5tt!<\/strong> <\/a>That\u2019s Norway in red, white and blue! So many Norwegians sing on 17. mai<\/strong>, Norges nasjonaldag<\/strong>. As the text shows, Norwegians love their flagg<\/strong>. On festive occassions, such as skirenn<\/strong> (ski races) and bursdager<\/strong> (birthdays), they\u2019ll fetch their little handheld fabric flags and wave them energetically. Recently, several clothing companies have adopted the Norwegian flag as a symbol of everything cool & Nordic \u2013 I see Norwegian flags all the time on vinterjakker<\/strong> (winter coats) in Denmark, where I currently live.<\/p>\n Like the flags of the other Nordic countries \u2013 Sverige <\/strong>(Sweden), Danmark<\/strong>, Finland<\/strong>, Island\u00a0<\/strong>(Iceland), F\u00e6r\u00f8yene<\/strong>\u00a0(The Faroe Islands)\u00a0and \u00c5land<\/strong> \u2013 the Norwegian one is a korsflagg<\/strong> (cross flag). The cross shows that kristendommen<\/strong> (Christianity) is the dominant faith in Norway.<\/p>\n The Danish flag, also called Dannebrog.<\/p><\/div>Throughout history, Norway has had a complicated relationship to its neighbours. For some 400 years, the country was the underdog in a union with Denmark. Hence, the ancient Danish red and white flag was flown in every Norwegian village and town. In 1814<\/strong>, Norway left the union with Denmark, only to enter a new union with Sweden (which lasted until 1905<\/strong>, when Norway finally ceased to be \u201dthe weaker part\u201d and became fully independent \u2013 as it had been in the Viking Ages).<\/p>\n The flag of Sweden.<\/p><\/div>Within the Norwegian-Swedish union, there arose a need for a specific Norwegian flag. According to Wikipedia<\/a>, it was the politician Frederik Meltzer<\/strong> who designed the modern Norwegian flag in 1821<\/strong>. Meltzer combined the red and white of the Danish flag (which, after all, had been the flag of Norwegians for four centuries) with the blue of the Swedish flag. As in the Danish flag, the two rectangles closest to the pole are square (in the Swedish and Finnish flags, they\u2019re oblong).<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>