Sweden flag is the national flag of Sweden, a country in northern Europe. The flag is blue with a large yellow cross.
The colors of Sweden’s flag come from the state coat of arms. The coat of arms contains three golden yellow crowns on a bright blue shield. It developed from royal emblems of the 1200’s and 1300’s.
The type of cross on Sweden’s flag is called a Scandinavian cross or a Nordic cross. It has straight arms that continue to the edges of the flag. The middle of the cross is shifted toward the hoist (side closest to the flagpole). A Scandinavian cross appears on many northern European flags. It probably originated with Denmark’s flag, which is red with a white cross.
Swedes may have used a blue flag with a yellow cross as early as the 1400’s. In the mid-1500’s, Sweden’s king declared that Swedish flags should bear this design. In 1663, the Swedes passed their first flag law regulating the appearance and use of the Swedish flag.
In 1814, Sweden acquired Norway from Denmark in a treaty agreement. In recognition of the new union, Sweden added a union mark in the canton (upper corner nearest the flagpole) of the Swedish and Norwegian flags. By the mid-1800’s, the union mark appeared as a cross design combining Norway’s traditional colors of red and white with Sweden’s blue and yellow. In 1905, Norway became independent. Sweden then restored a plain blue background to its flag.
