Buying a Swedish flag – price, size and quality

A Swedish flag can cost very different amounts, even in the same size. The difference often only shows after some time in the wind: in how the fabric fades, how the edges hold up and how the colours last. This guide gives no prices, since they vary between manufacturers and over time. Instead it describes what affects the price of a flag, what a correct Swedish flag looks like under the law and which rules apply to the purchase.

What affects the price of a flag?

Flag price and size

Size is the single biggest factor in the price. The right size depends on the flagpole’s height. According to Riksarkivet’s rule of thumb, the flag’s length is about one quarter of the pole’s height, and on very tall poles the flag can be up to one sixth smaller. Common standard sizes in the shops include flags 150, 200, 240 and 300 centimetres long.

More sizes are in the guide to flag sizes, and the flag size calculator works out the size for a particular height. A flag that is too large catches more wind and puts more strain on the pole.

Fabric, stitching and print

Most flags today are made of polyester. Even so, flags differ in the fabric’s weight, weave and colourfastness. A few things that usually affect both the price and how long the flag lasts:

• Sewn or printed cross: in a sewn flag, the cross and the fields are stitched together from separate pieces of fabric. In a printed flag, the colours are printed onto the fabric.
• Reinforced fly: the free end, which wears most in the wind, is sometimes reinforced with extra seams.
• Colourfastness: colours that resist UV light fade more slowly.

A flag raised every day wears faster than one raised only on flag days, which affects how often a new flag is needed.

A correct Swedish flag under the law

The Act on the Flag of Sweden and Ordinance (1983:826) describe what the flag looks like. It can be useful to know when buying:

• Proportions: the rectangular flag’s height relates to its length as 10 to 16. The cross divides the flag into 5 + 2 + 9 parts along the length and 4 + 2 + 4 along the height.
• Colours: the fields are light medium blue and the cross golden yellow. The exact shades are set out in NCS in Ordinance (1983:826).
• No symbols: under section 4, the flag may not bear marks, letters or other symbols beyond what the Act specifies for the Royal House and the Swedish Armed Forces.
• Swallow-tailed flag: under the Act it is intended for the head of state and the Royal House, the Swedish Armed Forces and certain other authorities. Otherwise the rectangular flag is used.

More about the colours in the guide to flag symbolism and about the flag’s different forms in the guide to flag types.

Pennants and other flag types

A pennant often goes with the flag. The pennant adorns the pole when the flag is not flying and, according to the recommendations, may stay up around the clock. According to Riksarkivet, the pennant is between one third and one half of the pole’s height, and the blue field is at the top. Riksarkivet advises against cross pennants with a yellow cross, because they lack the flag’s statutory proportions.

Other flags that come up when buying are wall or balcony flags on a short pole and a smaller storm flag for windy days.

Consumer rights when buying

• Right of withdrawal: when buying at a distance from a business, there is normally a 14-day right of withdrawal under the Distance Contracts Act. Under the Act it does not apply to goods made to the consumer’s specifications or clearly personalised, such as a flag with the buyer’s own logo.
• Complaints: according to the Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket), the business is responsible for original defects for at least three years from the purchase, with the burden of proof on the business for the first two years.

When the flag is worn out

A flag that has faded, torn or frayed is often replaced by a new one. The Swedish National Day Foundation recommends cutting a worn-out flag into pieces of only blue and only yellow fabric that no longer form a flag, and advises against burning it. More in the guide to flag rules. A new pole is covered in the guide to buying a flagpole.