Greenland Flags

The Greenland flag displays two horizontal stripes of white and red, with a disk off-center. The Greenland flag is 18 by 12 parts in size with each stripe measuring 6 parts. The Greenlandic name of the flag is Erfalasorput, meaning "our flag". It is the only flag in the Nordic territories to be without the Nordic Cross. The flag was adopted officially on June 21, 1985.

The white stripe on the flag represents the snowy ice caps. The glaciers cover 80% of the Greenland Island. On the other hand, the red stripe symbolizes the ocean. The red color within the circular disk represents the sun. The sun has the appearance of setting into the sea. Having the sun on the flag also indicates the return of warmth and light in mid-summer.

The Greenlandic flag was designed by Thue Christiansen. Out of 555 proposals of the flag that the government received, the Christiansen’s idea of a red and white flag won with a vote of fourteen to eleven.

The very first proposal of a flag in Greenland was in 1973. This proposal's design was very similar to the flag of Denmark. It had three colors namely white, green, and blue. The flag had a white cross decorated with blue. Then the second flag almost similar to the first, but with variations of the colors. Such that the green parts in the first color were painted red while the decoration of the cross was with green. Then there was the flag proposal by Sven Tito Achen in 1984. At the poll, the flag lost by 14 to 11 votes to the current flag. Achen’s flag had only two colors: a lighter green and white. The whole flag was green while the Nordic cross had a white paint. Finally, the flag adopted in 1985 won the votes.

This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018

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Published on 2019-11-06


Capital	Nuuk
Languages	Greenlandic (East Inuit) (official), Danish (official), English
Ethnic Groups	Inuit 88%, Danish and other 12% (2010 est.)
Religion	Evangelical Lutheran, traditional Inuit spiritual beliefs
Government	Parliamentary democracy (Parliament of Greenland); part of the Kingdom of Denmark
Independance	None (extensive self-rule as part of the Kingdom of Denmark; foreign affairs is the responsibility of Denmark, but Greenland actively participates in international agreements relating to Greenland)
Area	2,166,086.00 km²
Land Area	2,166,086.00 km²
Population	57,728.00 Settlement concentrated on the southwest shoreline, with limited settlements scattered along the remaining coast; interior is uninhabited
Location	Northern North America, island between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada
GDP(PPP)	$2,173,000,000.00 (USD)
GDP (Per Capita)	$37,600.00 (USD)
Export Partners	Its major export partner is Denmark.
Export Commodities	Its main exports are fish and fish products.
Import Partners	Its major import partners are Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland.
Import Commodities	Its major imports include machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, and food.
Climate	Arctic to subarctic; cool summers, cold winters
Terrain	Flat to gradually sloping icecap covers all but a narrow, mountainous, barren, rocky coast
Learn More	Greenland

Greenland Flags

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