Editing Flag of Estonia (section)

== History ==
In the 1820s, in the [[University of Tartu]] ([[Dorpat]]), three eponymous German-speaking [[German Student Corps|student corporations (corps)]] were established for each of the three [[Baltic provinces]] ([[Governorate of Estonia|Estonia]], [[Governorate of Livonia|Livonia]] and [[Courland Governorate|Curonia]]). Each of them selected their own "colours"{{efn|{{langx|de|"Farben"}}; {{langx|et|"värvid"}}}} which, in turn, over time, became flags and informal visual representations of the corresponding province. Public display (for example, as part of attire) of these colour combinations was prohibited by the [[Russian Empire|Imperial Russian]] authorities in 1821–1862, in 1887–1904 and, after the outbreak of World War I, finally and completely banned during the anti-German propaganda campaign in 1915.<ref>Vivat Academia. Üliõpilasseltsid ja korporatsioonid Eestis. EÜS kirjastus, 2007. Pages 80, 85–87</ref>

In 1870, the predecessor of the [[Estonian Students' Society]], the first Estonian-speaking student organisation, was established at the University of Tartu, and in 1881 it adopted a similar set of three "colours": blue, black, and white. Unlike the earlier corps' colour combinations, each one of the three colours of the new organisation was ascribed symbolic meanings. The first such tricolour flag was made in the spring of 1884 and consecrated at [[Otepää]] on June 4 at the same year.

[[File:Declaration of Estonian independence in Pärnu.jpg|thumb|Flags of Estonia on display after the proclamation of the [[Estonian Declaration of Independence]] in [[Pärnu]] on 23 February 1918. One of the first images of the Republic of Estonia.]]
The blue-black-white flag of the Estonian university student organisation was later on gradually associated with [[Estonian nationalism]] and, by the beginning of the 20th century, it had already become the de facto flag of the Estonian-speaking people. It was known as "the nation's flag" (''rahvuslipp'') when the [[Estonian Declaration of Independence]] was issued on 23–24 February 1918. Formally, the tricolour became the national flag of the newly independent country by the decision of the [[Estonian Provisional Government]] on 21 November 1918. On 12 December 1918, the flag was for the first time raised on top of the [[Pikk Hermann]] tower, and that location has since then become its most symbolic site of display. The flag's official status was reconfirmed by a law passed by the Estonian parliament on 16 July 1922.<ref name="estemb2">{{cite web|url=http://www.estemb.org/estonia/history/aid-780|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217152516/http://www.estemb.org/estonia/history/aid-780|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 17, 2007|title=Estonia's Blue-Black-White Tricolour Flag|date=January 1, 2007|publisher=[[Embassy of Estonia, Washington, D.C.]]|access-date=2009-04-26}}</ref>

The invasion of Estonia by the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Red Army|Army]] on 16–17 June 1940 was followed by the banning of the flag by the occupation authorities. It was taken down from the most symbolic location, the tower of Pikk Hermann in Tallinn, on 21 June 1940, when Estonia was still formally independent. On the next day, 22 June, it was hoisted along with the [[red flag (politics)|red flag]]. The tricolour disappeared completely from the tower on 27 July 1940, and was replaced by the red [[flag of the Soviet Union]].

During the [[German occupation of Estonia during World War II|German occupation]] from 1941 until 1944, the tricolour flag was accepted as the flag of the Estonian people but not as the country's national flag. After the German retreat from Tallinn in September 1944, the Estonian tricolour was hoisted once again.

When the Soviet Red Army reconquered Tallinn on 22 September 1944, the blue-black-white flag disappeared from the Pikk Hermann tower. Its place was subsequently taken by the Soviet red flags until 1989. Any display or distribution of the blue-black-white flag remained a punishable crime by the Soviet laws which were enforced until the late 1980s. 21 October 1987 was the first time when Soviet forces did not take down the flag at a public event. Starting from 24 February 1989 the blue-black-white flag has been flown again from the Pikk Hermann tower in Tallinn. It was formally redeclared as the national flag on 7 August 1990, a little over a year before Estonia restored full independence.{{cn|date=December 2022}}