The history of the flagpole and the flag in Sweden

The flagpole at the Swedish house is a fairly recent phenomenon, but the flag it carries has a history of almost 500 years. It began at sea, where flags and pennants showed which country a ship belonged to, and gradually moved ashore, to royal palaces, fortresses, farms and finally to gardens all over the country.

The flag at sea

According to Riksarkivet, the history of the Swedish flag goes back to the middle of the 16th century, the end of Gustav Vasa’s reign. The model was almost certainly Denmark’s Dannebrog, the red flag with a white cross, and the colours were taken from the national coat of arms with its three golden crowns on a blue field.

From the 1620s, in the reign of Gustav II Adolf, there is pictorial evidence that blue and yellow cross flags were flown on Swedish ships. The flag was then above all a mark of identity at sea, and the ship’s mast was its first flagpole.

Sweden’s first flag law of 1663 stipulated that the flag with three tongues could only be used by naval vessels, the navy’s warships. That distinction remains today: the swallow-tailed flag is the Swedish Armed Forces’ naval ensign and the flag of the Royal House. The pennant also has a long history in the navy and was regulated as early as the beginning of the 18th century.

The union period

For much of the union with Norway, which lasted from 1814 to 1905, the Swedish and Norwegian flags carried a common union mark in the upper inner field. The mark, which combined the colours of both countries, was popularly called the herring salad (sillsallaten). It was removed after the dissolution of the union in 1905.

The flag act of 1906

The year after the dissolution of the union, a new flag act came in 1906. For the first time, it set fixed rules for the flag’s proportions and colour shades.

The flag moves ashore

Towards the end of the 19th century, the flag became a symbol of the whole people and not only of the state and the navy. According to Riksarkivet, flag festivals have been held at Skansen since the 1890s, and from 1916 Swedish Flag Day on 6 June was celebrated officially and throughout the country. The date was chosen because Gustav Vasa was elected king on 6 June 1523 and the Instrument of Government of 1809 was adopted on the same date.

As more and more people wanted to fly the flag on special days, the flagpole became common at farms, schools, community halls and summer houses, and during the 20th century at ordinary houses too. The classic Swedish flagpole, white with a gilded finial, is still the most common.

From wood to glass fibre

Flagpoles used to be made of wood, often from a straight trunk of pine or spruce painted white. Wooden poles needed regular painting and could rot at ground level. Today, according to Riksarkivet, flagpoles are usually made of glass-fibre reinforced plastic, and poles of metal also exist. The change of material has made poles lighter, more durable and easier to look after. More in the guide to flagpole materials.

The modern flag act

In 1982 the flag legislation was modernised through the Act (1982:269) on the Flag of Sweden, and the same year saw Ordinance (1982:270) on general flag days. In 1983 Swedish Flag Day gained the status of National Day, and the same year the flag’s exact colours were set in NCS by Ordinance (1983:826). Since 2005, National Day on 6 June has also been a public holiday, after the Riksdag decided that it would replace Whit Monday.

Timeline

How the flag’s colours and cross are interpreted is described in the guide to flag symbolism.