What is a Scandinavian cross, and what does it look like? What is the story of this symbol? What is the semantic meaning in it? On the flags of which countries and state entities is he present? You will get answers to all these questions by reading our article.
Scandinavian cross: photo and meaning of the symbol
The cross is perhaps the most common and used symbol on earth. Moreover, there are at least a hundred of its various variations. And in our article we will talk about one of them - this is a Scandinavian cross. So what does he look like?
The Scandinavian cross is a heraldic figure, the vertical cross of which is shifted to the left. By the way, if we turn it 90 degrees to the right, we get a classic Latin cross with two perpendicular crossbars, widely used in Christian culture.
The significance of the Scandinavian cross is prosaic and quite obvious. It symbolizes Christianity. This symbol first appeared on Dannebrog, the national flag of Denmark, which is considered the oldest in the world. Read more about the history of the Scandinavian cross.
The story of the appearance of the symbol
In 1219, a large-scale battle took place on the shores of Livonia between the army of the Danish King Waldemar the Second Victorious and the Ests. The latter gathered a rather large army, but in order to mislead the enemy, they sent their elders with the “white flag” to Valdemar. The Danes were delighted with this situation and released the elders with generous gifts.
Three days later, in the late afternoon, an armada of Estonians attacked the unsuspecting Danish army from all sides. A serious panic began in the Danes' camp; many simply fled. But at the decisive moment of the battle, according to legend, a red cloth with a white cross fell on the battlefield from heaven - Dannebrog. The Danes ultimately won and established a fortress on the site of the Estonian city, which laid the foundation for the future city of Tallinn.
Since then, Dannebrog is considered the main state symbol of Denmark. Later, he migrated to the flags of other states of the North European region. Why is the cross rotated 90 degrees on the Scandinavian flags? Historians explain it this way: initially Dannebrog was oriented vertically and fixed on a short horizontal crossbar. During the transition to the flag of the traditional form, it was turned so that the former upper edge of the cloth became its left part, located near the flagpole.
Flags of the Scandinavian countries
Scandinavian countries are considered five independent states located in northern Europe. These are Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland. The basis of state symbols of each of these countries is the Scandinavian cross. Let's take a closer look at how their flags look:
- Sweden flag: golden cross on a blue background. Known from the second half of the XVII century, officially adopted in 1906.
- Norway flag: blue cross with a white border on a red background. Approved in 1898. The coloring was inspired by the revolutionary colors of the flags of the USA and France at that time.
- Finland flag: blue cross on a white background. Adopted in 1918. The colors for the flag were proposed by the poet Tsakarias Topelius. White symbolizes Finnish snows, and blue symbolizes the numerous lakes of this northern country.
- Denmark flag: white cross on a red background. Date of the appearance of the flag: June 15, 1219. As a state, it was approved in 1625.
- Flag of Iceland: red cross with a white border on a blue background. Officially adopted in 1918. Blue on the flag symbolizes mountains, white - endless ice, and red - the lights of the volcanoes of Iceland.
Flags of other territorial entities with a Scandinavian cross
In addition to the Scandinavian countries, a cross of this type is also present on the flags of many other territories, cities and peoples. Some of them survived only in the form of projects. So, for example, the flag of the island of Greenland might look like (1984 project).
The figure below shows examples of the flags of those territorial entities, the design of which was used the Scandinavian cross. By the way, the appearance of this symbol on the flags of the Shetland and Orkney Islands is not at all accidental. After all, these territories were previously controlled by Norway, but later transferred to Great Britain.
In addition, the Scandinavian cross adorns the flags of a number of cities. Among them are Estonian Pärnu, Latvian Ventspils, French Calais, Croatian Pula and even Russian Stavropol. It is also present on unofficial banners of several peoples of Finno-Ugric origin, in particular, Veps, Karelians and Friezes.