Editing Flekkefjord (section)

==General information==
[[File:Evening light (6088422262).jpg|thumb|left|Flekkefjord landscape]]
The small [[Flekkefjord (town)|town of Flekkefjord]] was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). In 1942, a part of the municipality of [[Nes, Vest-Agder|Nes]] (population: 377) was transferred to the town of Flekkefjord.<ref name="Dag" />

On 1 January 1965, there was a major municipal merger due to the work of the [[Schei Committee]]. On that date, the rural municipalities of [[Bakke, Norway|Bakke]] (except the Øksendal area), [[Gyland (municipality)|Gyland]], [[Hidra, Vest-Agder|Hidra]], and [[Nes, Vest-Agder|Nes]] were merged with the town of Flekkefjord, creating a new, much larger municipality of Flekkefjord with about 8,800 people. On 1 January 1987, the Virak and Espetveit areas of northern Flekkefjord (population: 41) were transferred to [[Sirdal]] municipality.<ref name="Dag">{{Cite book |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |year=1999 |isbn=9788253746845 |language=no}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (and town) is named after the local [[fjord]] called the ''Flekkefjorden''. The first element of the name comes from the name of the old ''Flikke'' farm ({{langx|non|Flikkar}}) since it is located near the fjord. That name is the plural form of the word {{lang|non|flikkar}} which has an unknown meaning. The last element is {{wikt-lang|no|fjord}} which means "[[fjord]]".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mt1LAQAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Lister og Mandals amt |date=1912 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=9 |location=Kristiania, Norge |pages=317–318 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] for Flekkefjord are rather old (compared with most Norwegian municipal arms). They were granted around the year 1855. The [[blazon]] is ''"[[Or (heraldry)|Or]], a sailing ship above four [[barrulet]]s wavy [[gules]]"''. This means the arms have a [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of [[Or (heraldry)|Or]] which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is a [[pilot boat]] above four wavy stripes symbolizing the sea. The arms have a [[mural crown]] above the shield. The arms were originally proposed in 1855 and they were described as a [[pilot boat]] on the [[sea]]. It specifically is like the pilot boats that Colin Archer made during that time period. The original proposal showed a boat on a very natural sea, using all in natural colours. The present shape of the boat and the more heraldically correct arms date from 1899. The arms were designed by an unknown designer. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Flekkefjord |access-date=2023-07-12 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Flekkefjord kommune, våpen |url=https://foto.digitalarkivet.no/fotoweb/archives/5003-Kommunev%C3%A5pen/Kart%20og%20tegninger%20og%20segl/Flekkefjord%20fra%20SNL.JPG.info#c=%2Ffotoweb%2Farchives%2F5003-Kommunev%25C3%25A5pen%2F%3Fq%3Dflekkefjord |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=Digitalarkivet |publisher=Arkivverket |language=no}}</ref> In 2023, the design of the arms was updated slightly. The flag on the boat was made to look more wavy, a single black stripe is on the sails, and a pilot is more visible at the rear of the boat.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ny grafisk profil på vei |url=https://www.flekkefjord.kommune.no/ny-grafisk-profil-paa-vei.6624004-504114.html |access-date=2024-01-27 |website=Flekkefjord kommune |language=no}}</ref>

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has four parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Flekkefjord. It is part of the [[Lister og Mandal prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Agder og Telemark]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Flekkefjord'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="1"|Bakke||[[Bakke Church (Vest-Agder)|Bakke Church]]||[[Sira, Norway|Sira]]||1865
|-
|rowspan="1"|Flekkefjord||[[Flekkefjord Church]]||[[Flekkefjord (town)|Flekkefjord]]||1966
|-
|rowspan="1"|Gyland||[[Gyland Church]]||Nuland (near [[Gyland]])||1982
|-
|rowspan="1"|Hidra||[[Hidra Church]]||[[Kirkehamn]]||1924
|}