Flag of Åland Islands

The flag of the Åland Islands is a blue field with a gold Nordic cross with another red cross inside with the vertical bar shifted towards the hoist side and officially adopted as the flag of Åland in 1954, and is intended to resemble the Swedish flag defaced by a red cross symbolizing.

The blue colour represents the sea surrounding the islands, the yellow cross represents the archipelago’s history as part of the Kingdom of Sweden, and the red cross symbolises Finland.

Åland Islands Flag Design and Colour Scheme

The Nordic Cross subjugates the flag of the Aland Islands. The flag resembles Sweden’s flag, with a red cross defacing the yellow cross. The Swedish cross looks like the island’s ancient relationship with Sweden while the red cross signifies its connotation with Finland.

The Flag consists of three colours:

• The blue colour of the flag represents the sea surrounding the islands
• The yellow or gold cross represents the archipelago’s history as part of the Kingdom of Sweden.
• The red cross inside the yellow or gold cross symbolizes Finland and its historic connection to the Åland Islands.

All were borrowed from the Sweden and Finland country flags.

The flag is designed with the vertical bar of the cross shifted towards the hoist side, which is a unique feature of the flag. The overall design of the flag is intended to resemble the Swedish flag with a red cross, symbolizing the connection of the Åland Islands to both Sweden and Finland.

Åland Islands Flag Official Colours

The Åland Islands flag has 3 primary colours, which are blue, yellow and red.

Dimensions of the flag

The dimensions of the flag of the Åland Islands are 16:3:4:3:26 horizontally and 12:3:4:3:12 vertically.

Brief History 

The flag of the Åland Islands has a unique history. Prior to the official adoption of the current flag in 1954, an unofficial horizontal bicolour triband of blue-yellow-blue was in use by the autonomy movement in the Åland Islands. This flag was used until it was made illegal in 1935 by the Finnish government.

After Finland gained independence from Russia in 1917, many Ålanders were concerned they would lose their Swedish heritage and language, which led to the native population starting a movement to unite with Sweden. This prompted appeals to the League of Nations from Finland, Sweden, and Russia, and they decided in favour of “Aland autonomy.”

Finland granted autonomy to Åland at the beginning of the 1950s, and a new flag was a topic of discussion. The current flag, which has a red cross inside a yellow or gold Nordic cross on a blue background with the vertical bar shifted towards the hoist side, was the winner of a competition to design a new flag.

The flag was unfurled for the first time in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands, on April 3, 1954. It was formally adopted on May 15, 1954. Since then, the flag has been flown as the official flag of the land Islands. It is designed to resemble the Swedish flag with a red cross to represent Finland removed.

Information about Åland Islands

Learn more about the flag of Finland