Flag of Greenland

What the flag of Greenland looks like

The flag of Greenland has two equal horizontal bands, white on top and red below. Near the hoist, slightly off center, is a disc that is split along the same line as the bands. The upper half of the disc is red and sits on the white band, and the lower half is white and sits on the red band. The proportions are 2:3.

Greenland is the only Nordic territory whose flag does not have a Nordic cross. Other Nordic flags such as the flag of Denmark are built around an off-center cross. The Greenland flag is easy to recognize from a distance because of the large disc and the reversed colors. For the small icon version, see the Greenland flag emoji.

Greenland flag meaning and symbolism

The designer described the disc as the sun rising above, or sinking into, the sea. In this reading the white stands for the ice cap and the glaciers that cover most of the island, and the red stands for the ocean. The red half of the disc on the white band is the sun above the ice, and the white half on the red band is the ice and icebergs floating in the sea.

The red and white are also the colors of the Danish flag, so the flag keeps a link to the country that ruled Greenland for centuries while showing a clear identity of its own. These explanations are traditional rather than set by law, so they are best seen as the usual way of reading the symbols.

History of the Greenland flag

Greenland was a Danish colony for centuries and used the Danish flag, the Dannebrog. It was made an integral part of Denmark in 1953 and received home rule in 1979. As the idea of a local flag grew, several proposals were discussed, and some of them used a Nordic cross. Many Greenlanders wanted a flag that would not look like the flags of the other Nordic countries.

A competition for a Greenlandic flag was held, and the winner was Thue Christiansen, an artist from Greenland. Under the name Erfalasorput it was adopted by the home rule government and took effect on 21 June 1985. The date is also the National Day of Greenland. With Danish permission, the flag has since been flown on official buildings in Greenland next to the Dannebrog. In 2009 Greenland took on a larger degree of self-government, and the flag remains the symbol of the territory.

Greenland flag and the Danish flag

Greenland is a self-governing territory in the Kingdom of Denmark, and for that reason both flags are seen in the country. The Greenlandic flag is used by the government, municipalities, sports teams and people at home, while the Dannebrog is flown at some official buildings and Danish institutions. Browse more at flags of the world.