Flag of Greenland
{{short description|none}}
{{Infobox National flag
| Name = Greenland
| Image = Flag of Greenland.svg
| Nickname = Erfalasorput ("our flag")
| Morenicks = Aappalaartoq ("the red")
| Use = 111100
| Symbol = {{FIAV|111100}} {{FIAV|normal}} {{FIAV|Mirror}}
| Proportion = 2:3
| Design = A horizontal bicolour of white and red, with a counterchanged disk slightly off-centre towards the hoist.
| Designer = Thue Christiansen
}}
File:Greenland flag on building perspective.jpg) in Nuuk]]
File:Upernavik first day in class 2007-08-14 2.jpg with flags]]
The flag of Greenland ({{langx|kl|Erfalasorput}}{{Cite web |date=19 December 2024 |title=Cirkulæreskrivelse om officielle flagdage |url=https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/retsinfo/2024/10155 |website=Retsinformation |series=CIS nr 10155 af 19/12/2024 |publisher=Ministry of Justice (Denmark), Denmark}} or {{lang|kl|Kalaallit erfalasuat}}, {{langx|da|Grønlands flag}}) was designed by Greenland native Thue Christiansen.{{cite news |title=Greenland's flag |url=http://www.norden.org/en/the-nordic-region/the-nordic-flags/greenlands-flag |work=Nordic Council |access-date=8 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315095254/http://www.norden.org/en/the-nordic-region/the-nordic-flags/greenlands-flag |archive-date=15 March 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }} It features two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red (bottom) with a counter-changed red-and-white disk slightly to the hoist side of centre. The entire flag measures 18 by 12 parts; each stripe measures 6 parts; the disk is 8 parts in diameter, horizontally offset by 7 parts from the hoist to the centre of the circle, and vertically centered.
Its local name in the Greenlandic language is {{Lang|kl|Erfalasorput}}, which means "our flag". The term {{Lang|kl|Aappalaartoq}} (meaning "the red") is also used for both the Greenlandic flag and the flag of Denmark ({{Lang|da|Dannebrog}}). Today, Greenlanders display both the {{Lang|kl|Erfalasorput}} and the {{Lang|da|Dannebrog}}{{Cite web |title=The Greenland flag in the capital Nuk, Greenland |url=http://www.grida.no/resources/4205 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214065915/https://www.grida.no/resources/4205 |archive-date=2018-12-14 |access-date=2018-12-11 |website=GRID-Arendal}}—often side by side. The flag of Greenland is the only national flag of a Nordic country or territory without a Nordic cross, but is similar to the cultural Sámi flag, which also features a circular design and counterchanging of field and charge.
History
Greenland first entertained the idea of a flag of its own in 1973 when five Greenlanders proposed a green, white and blue flag. The following year, a newspaper solicited eleven design proposals (all but one of which was a Nordic cross) and polled the people to determine the most popular.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UiLFMfm1R9AC&pg=PA168|title=Denmark-Greenland in the Twentieth Century|last=Sørensen|first=Axel Kjær|date=2009|publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press|isbn=9788763512763|language=en}}
File:Flag of Greenland Construction.svg
The deciding committee came to no consensus, so more proposals were solicited. Finally, the present red-and-white design by Thue Christiansen narrowly won over a green-and-white Nordic cross by a vote of fourteen to eleven.{{Cite web|url=http://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/nu-vajer-det-groenlandske-flag-over-danmark|title=Nu vajer det grønlandske flag over Danmark|date=21 June 2016 |access-date=2016-06-24}} Christiansen's red-and-white flag was officially adopted on 21 June 1985.
To honour the tenth anniversary of the flag, the Greenland Post Office issued commemorative postage stamps and a leaflet by the flag's creator.{{Cite web|url=https://flagspot.net/flags/gl.html#meaning|title=Greenland (Denmark)|website=flagspot.net|access-date=2017-09-01}} He described the white stripe as representing the glaciers and ice cap, which cover more than 80% of the island; the red stripe, the ocean; the red semicircle, the sun, with its bottom part sunk in the ocean; and the white semicircle, the icebergs and pack ice. The design is also reminiscent of the setting Sun half-submerged below the horizon and reflected on the sea. In 1985, it was reported that Greenland's flag had exactly the same motif as the flag of the Danish rowing club HEI Rosport, which was founded before Greenland's flag was chosen. It is not clear whether this is a case of plagiarism or just a coincidence, but the rowing club gave Greenland permission to use their flag.{{cite web|title=(Danish) Grønland må gerne bruge roklub-flag|date=3 October 2006 |url=http://politiken.dk/indland/ECE181234/groenland-maa-gerne-bruge-roklub-flag/|publisher=Politiken|access-date=15 July 2014}}
The colours of the flag are the same as those of the flag of Denmark, symbolizing Greenland's place in the Danish realm.{{Cite web |title=The Greenland Flag |url=https://www.norden.org/en/fakta-om-norden-1/the-nordic-flags/the-greenland-flag |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304060239/https://www.norden.org/en/fakta-om-norden-1/the-nordic-flags/the-greenland-flag |archive-date=Mar 4, 2018 |website=Nordic Co-operation}}
{{gallery|mode=nolines|whitebg=y|height=100|align=center
|Flag of Iceland (KGH).svg|The flag of the Royal Greenland Trading Department used before 1908|Flag of Denmark.svg|The flag of Denmark was used before the Greenlandic flag became official.
|Flag of Greenland.svg|{{FIAV|normal}} Current Greenlandic flag
}}
Other proposals
{{gallery|mode=nolines|whitebg=y|align=center|height=100
|Proposed flag of Greenland (1973).svg|{{FIAV|proposal}}The first proposed flag of Greenland (1973)
|File:Proposed flag of Greenland (1974).svg|{{FIAV|proposal}}Proposed flag of Greenland by Stephen Petersen (1974)|Proposed flag of Greenland (1984).svg|{{FIAV|proposal}}Proposed flag of Greenland by Sven Tito Achen (1984)
|Proposed flag of Greenland (1991).svg|{{FIAV|proposal}}Proposed flag of Greenland by Andersson (1991)
|title=Proposed flags of Greenlandhttps://flagmakers.co.uk/media/qhgmbvej/flag-of-greenland-a-brief-history-download.pdf}}
See also
{{Portal|Kingdom of Denmark}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- [http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gl.html FOTW: Greenland] - History of the flag
- [http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gl-oprop.html Other flag proposals] for a Nordic cross design
- http://www.flagscorner.com/greenland-flag/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217000518/http://www.flagscorner.com/greenland-flag |date=2020-02-17 }}
{{Greenland topics}}
{{Danish flags}}
{{Flag of Europe}}
{{Flags of North America}}
{{nationalflags}}
{{Lists of flags}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flag of Greenland}}
Category:National symbols of Greenland