Sweden

Kingdom of Sweden
Flag of Sweden
Designer	Unknown
Adopted	22 June 1906
Wikipedia article
Flags of the World article

The national flag of the Kingdom of Sweden traces its earliest origins back to the 12th century during the time of the reign of King Eric IX, who saw a golden cross in the sky as he landed in Finland during the First Swedish Crusade in 1157. The King saw the phenomenon as a gesture of God himself and so he decided to immortalize the event in the form of a off centered golden Nordic cross on top of a blue background as his banner. The Nordic cross is traditionally used by all Scandinavian national flags to show their solidarity for the Christian faith. The blue and gold are common Swedish colors used at least since 1275 under Magnus III's royal coat of arms. However, some historians argue that the flag was once white Nordic Cross and blue background prior to 1420, because of these debates the age of the current flag remains unknown.

Historical Flags

Royal Banner of Sweden (14th Century)

Early variant of state flag and war ensign. This design was also used by the Swedish East India Company.

Swedish and Norwegian civil ensign 1818–1844, with the saltire on red in the canton symbolizing Norway.

Union mark used in Swedish flags 1844–1905, with proportions 5:4. This version of the union mark was also used as a common naval jack by the navies of both countries, and as their common diplomatic flag. Norwegian flags had a square union mark.

Swedish civil ensign 1844–1905, with the union mark in the canton.

Color change of the Swedish flag. (1906)