Talk:Flag of Norway

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	Heraldry and Vexillology Portal Flag of Norway is within the scope of the Heraldry and vexillology WikiProject, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of heraldry and vexillology. If you would like to participate, you can visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks.
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Contents 1 FIAV code of the national flag 2 Original flag? 3 Flag chronology 4 The Raven banner 5 Missing images

[edit] FIAV code of the national flag

Shouldn't the national flag have FIAV code 63 () instead of code 36 ()? The national flag is used not only by private persons, but also the state and the military. It is used by all parties in many cases where the law and regulations don't specifically prescribe the use of the state flag, e.g. on clothes and vehicles. --Eddi (Talk) 01:28, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

I disagree. The use of the national flag as a way of identifying Norwegian soldiers or military vehicles is merely of practical purposes. It is easier for foreigners to understand. The use of the flag on uniforms is relatively new. During WWII the soldiers used the NORWAY shoulder patch. But I have seen an army vehicle with a State flag sticker, so at least some know that they are supposed to use that flag. The point is that the navy, army, as well as state owned civillian ships and buildings use the Navy/State flag. This is the way it is supposed to be, allthough I am sure this rule is broken sometimes...Inge 23:58, 7 February 2006 (UTC) The rules are the same as for Sweden. One more difficulty is that the municipalities and counties use the national flag. The state and its representatives the fylkesmenn in each county use the state flag. The courts use the state flag. State owned civillian research vessels use the state flag. Police boats use the state flag.Inge 00:09, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Original flag?

Does anyone know if the Old Kingdom had a flag of its own? The unitary state that existed from the time of the union of the various petty kingdoms and until the inception of the Kalmar Union probably had some form of emblem, perhaps similar or identical to the modern coat of arms? //Big Adamsky 21:02, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

The theory behind the Royal Standard of Norway is that it was used by the King as his flag during this period. It was common in that time for noblemen and kings to use a banner of their coat of arms as their flag. And the Kings flag and coat of arms were the country's flag and coat of arms. I haven't heard of any real evidence that this was the case for a flag of Norway(such as the finding of a flag). But it is in my opinion still more likely than unlikely. So the closest thing you can get to the flag you are asking about is this one. Inge 23:27, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

This page in Norwegian mentions it.Inge 22:57, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

Apparantly the earlyest certain spotting of the flag is on a seal from 1318. It was also used on sea and on fortresses and was gradually fased out during the 16 and 17 hundreds.Inge 09:31, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Flag chronology

Hey Inge, Eddi and others! Would it not be useful for the reader of this article to be able to see the historical development of flags used to represent/symbolize Norway in chronological succession? Like this:

Norwegian Royal Standard.gif Likely flag of the Old Kingdom of Norway, c. 1000-1300 AD (unconfirmed).	Likely flag of the Kalmar Union 1397-1523 (unconfirmed).	Flag of Norway 1814-1821.	Norwegian flag during the Union between Sweden and Norway 1844-1899.
Flag of the modern Kingdom of Norway (adopted 1821, readopted 1899).

As for the flag used to represent Norway during its years as an appendix to Denmark, I believe it was simply the Dannebrog with the old royal lion in the canton, similar to this flag. Any ideas+comments? //Big Adamsky 12:42, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

A very good idea!Inge 15:39, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

I think that the order should be correct now but the exact years of adopting the different flags regarding Finisterre might be different. Those are so seldom mentioned that it might be easy to get them wrong. Inge 19:58, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

Good idea and well done! For the unconfirmed flag(s) I think sources should be given in the image text. (BTW, I changed to the Danish flag 1536-1814 above because the Image:Flag of Norway1700.svg didn't exist.) --Eddi (Talk) 02:00, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

I am not totally happy because I think the 1814 flag is "wrong". The flag we should have in our list is the one without split (as seen here), but I haven't been able to find it on FOTW.Inge 10:10, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

This flag is wrong. The lion is facing the wrong way and the axe is supposed to stretch down to the hind legs. The lion used here is too new, but the flag is rightfully without split. The lion is supposed to be like the one in this flag Image:Flag of Norway 1814.gif. If someone finds a flag with these specifications then it can replace both of the above in the chronology. As it stands now the chronology is not at it's best. The first flag mentioned here "never existed" and the second one is not a merchant flag like all the others.Inge 17:26, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

Fixed the 1814 flag so that the lion faces the correct direction. --ThrashedParanoid★ 22:04, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Raven banner

This seems like an interesting flag. It is supposed to be the flag of ceveral Viking kings and other rulers, and had magical powers :o Here's what FOTW say anyway. Inge 19:58, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

A very good article on this topic has been created at Raven banner. Inge 13:19, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Missing images

As all FOTW images were deleted from wikipedia many Norwegian flags are missing. This is hopefully soon fixed, so I suggest keeping the links in this article. This will show that an image is supposed to be there and maybe inspire someone to create it, much as a red link.Inge 12:52, 4 October 2006 (UTC)