Flag of the Faroe Islands

What the flag of the Faroe Islands looks like

The flag is white with an offset cross in the style of the Nordic countries. The vertical bar of the cross sits closer to the hoist (the side by the pole) than to the fly, which is typical of all Nordic flags. The cross is red and is bordered on both sides by a thin blue band, called a fimbriation. The proportions are 8:11.

The flag is clearly related to the Danish flag, which has a white cross on red, and to the Icelandic flag, which has a red cross edged in white on blue. The Faroese flag is the only one of the three to have a white field.

Faroe Islands flag meaning and symbolism

The cross represents Christianity, as it does on all Nordic flags. The colors are usually explained in connection with the nature and the neighbors of the islands: white for the foam of the waves and the sky, and red and blue for the colors shared with Norway, Iceland and Denmark. The flag was meant to link the Faroes to the Nordic family of nations, while being unlike any one of them. These readings are traditional and not defined by law.

History of the Faroe Islands flag

For centuries the islands were governed from Denmark and Norway, and used the Danish flag. The modern flag was designed in 1919 by Faroese students studying in Copenhagen, led by Jens Oliver Lisberg, as part of a growing movement for Faroese language and culture. It was first raised in the Faroes the same year, but the Danish authorities did not allow its official use.

That changed in the Second World War. Germany occupied Denmark in April 1940, and British forces occupied the Faroes. Because the Faroese ships needed a flag that could be told apart from the Danish one (which could be mistaken for an enemy flag), the British authorities recognized the Merkið as the flag of the Faroese on 25 April 1940. That day is now celebrated as Flaggdagur (Flag Day).

After the war, the flag became official under the Home Rule Act of 1948, which gave the islands self-government within the Danish Realm. It has been used in that form ever since. You can see it on the flag emoji and compare it with other Nordic flags, for example the Danish flag or the Icelandic flag.