Country flag
Norway Flag
Norway’s national flag is a deep red Nordic-cross flag, with a dark blue cross separated from the red by white edging. Its modern appearance emerged fro...
Where is Norway?
The highlighted area marks the country on the world map.
About Norway and its flag
Norway’s national flag is a deep red Nordic-cross flag, with a dark blue cross separated from the red by white edging. Its modern appearance emerged from parliamentary decisions and royal action in 1821, then later changes to remove the union emblem.
Flag design and meaning
The Norwegian trading flag is deep red, divided by a dark blue cross with a white border between the blue and red areas. Its official ratio is 16:22. The cross is offset towards the hoist, leaving two red squares there and wider red rectangles at the fly.
- Red, white and blue colours: Frederik Meltzer argued that red, white and blue were colours of liberty, linking them to the revolutionary flags of France and the United States. This records the design argument rather than a legally prescribed meaning for each colour.
History and adoption
The Storting selected Frederik Meltzer’s red, white and blue cross design in May 1821 during a debate over a Norwegian commercial flag. The king did not sanction the proposed law, but issued a royal decree permitting the design. It later coexisted with union symbols; the Flag Act of 1898 removed the union emblem.
How to recognise this flag
- Identify the dark blue Nordic cross, outlined in white, on a red field; the cross is offset towards the hoist.
- Check the geometry: the two red panels nearest the flagpole are square, while the red panels beyond the cross are visibly wider.
Norway flag quiz context
On Name The Flag, the Norway flag is currently grouped as easy difficulty for quiz progression.
Players may also want to compare it with Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, which can appear as plausible flag distractors.
Explore more country flags
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