Flag of Greenland
Template:Short description Template:Infobox National flag
The flag of Greenland (Template:Langx<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> or Template:Lang, Template:Langx) was designed by Greenland native Thue Christiansen.<ref name=norden>Template:Cite news</ref> 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 Template:Lang, which means "our flag". The term Template:Lang (meaning "the red") is also used for both the Greenlandic flag and the flag of Denmark (Template:Lang). Today, Greenlanders display both the Template:Lang and the Template:Lang<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>—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
[edit]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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Christiansen's red-and-white flag was officially adopted on 21 June 1985.<ref name=norden/>
To honour the tenth anniversary of the flag, the Greenland Post Office issued commemorative postage stamps and a leaflet by the flag's creator.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name="naalakkersuisut"/> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The colours of the flag are the same as those of the flag of Denmark, symbolizing Greenland's place in the Danish realm.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Other proposals
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]External links
[edit]- FOTW: Greenland - History of the flag
- Other flag proposals for a Nordic cross design
- http://www.flagscorner.com/greenland-flag/ Template:Webarchive
Template:Greenland topics Template:Danish flags Template:Flag of Europe Template:Flags of North America Template:Nationalflags Template:Lists of flags