The Sámi flag is the flag of
Sápmi
(, smj, Sábme / Sámeednam, sma, Saepmie, sju, Sábmie, , , sjd, Са̄мь е̄ммьне, Saam' jiemm'n'e) is the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sámi people. Sápmi is in Northern and Eastern Europe and includes the ...
and the
Sámi people
The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Ru ...
, one of the
indigenous people groups of the
Nordic countries and the
Kola Peninsula
sjd, Куэлнэгк нёа̄ррк
, image_name= Kola peninsula.png
, image_caption= Kola Peninsula as a part of Murmansk Oblast
, image_size= 300px
, image_alt=
, map_image= Murmansk in Russia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Murmansk Oblas ...
of the
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.
First Sámi flag
The first, unofficial Sámi flag was designed by Sami politician and activist Marit Stueng from
Kárašjohka in 1962, using a blue, red, and yellow color pattern commonly used on
gákti, the traditional Sámi garb.
The design was used locally in Kárašjohka as a flag, as well as in publications such as ''Kátalåga 1971''. ''Kátalåga 1971'' was published in 1972 by the Karasjok Library for Sámi Literature, and the cover was designed by Nils Viktor Aslaksen. With the growth of Sámi activism and the
ČSV movement, several proposals for a Sámi flag were developed, although none gained prominence until the
Alta controversy
The Alta conflict or Alta controversy refers to a series of massive protests in Norway in the late 1970s and early 1980s concerning the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the Alta River in Finnmark, Northern Norway.
Timeline
*Inhabitan ...
.
In 1977, as the protests in
Alta over a dam on the
Altaelva
Altaelva ( en, Alta River; sme, Álttáeatnu; fkv, Alattionjoki) is the third-longest river in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The river begins in the mountains and lakes in Kautokeino Municipality, near the border with Troms og Finnmark ...
grew, Sámi artist
Synnøve Persen from
Porsáŋgu made the artworks "Forslag til Samisk flagg" (Blueprint for a Sámi Flag) and "Sámiland for Sámi", both of which used a design similar to Stueng's flag. Persen credited other Nordic flags and traditional Sámi designs for her proposal. Despite the earlier origin of Stueng's flag, Persen's work gained notice and became a symbol of the Alta protests.
Persen's artworks were acquired by the
National Museum in 2018, after being featured locally and internationally in multiple media and exhibitions; it is usually introduced as "the first Sámi flag" without reference to Marit Stueng.
Second Sámi flag
The first official Sámi flag was recognized and inaugurated on 15 August 1986 by the 13th
Nordic Sami Conference in
Åre
Åre () is a locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,200 inhabitants in 2018. It is, however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpen. 25% of the local eco ...
,
Sweden. The flag was the result of a competition sponsored by the newspaper ''
Sámi Áigi'' for which more than seventy suggestions were entered. In the end, one new design was considered against the existing, unofficial flag - and came out winning. The design was submitted by the Coast Sámi artist
Astrid Båhl from
Ivgubahta/Skibotn, in
Tromssa/Troms county,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
.
The basic structure of the first Sámi flag was retained, but Båhl added the colour green, which is popular on many South Sámi gáktis. These four colours have been known since then as "the Sámi (national) colours". She also added a motif derived from a sun/moon symbol appearing on many
shaman's drums. While the drawings on shaman's drums were only made in red (using an extract of the sacred
alder
Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...
tree), the motif on the flag uses both blue and red — the first representing the moon, the latter representing the sun. The
Pantone
Pantone LLC (stylized as PANTONE) is a limited liability company headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color space used in a variety of industries, notably graphi ...
colour formula used is: red 485C, green 356C, yellow 116C and blue 286C.
Children of the Sun
The motif was chosen with the poem "Päiven Pārne'" ("Sons of the Sun") in mind. The poem was written down by the South Sámi
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
priest
Anders Fjellner in the mid-1800s from a
joik rich with elements of
Sámi shamanism
Traditional Sámi spiritual practices and beliefs are based on a type of animism, polytheism, and what anthropologists may consider shamanism. The religious traditions can vary considerably from region to region within Sápmi.
Traditional Sám ...
.
The poem describes the Sámi as "sons and daughters of the sun",
through the union between a female
"giant" (an unidentified mythological entity) who lives in a "House of Death" far in the North, and the Sun's male offspring with whom she elopes.
The Sámi are also referred to as "offspring of the Sons of the Sun" in "Sami soga lavlla," the
Sámi national anthem.
Official status
Seventeen years after its adoption by the Sámi Council, in 2003, the Sámi flag received official status in Norway, the country with the largest Sámi population. It is now compulsory for municipalities in Norway to fly the flag on 6 February, the
Sámi National Day. The flag is also flown in parts of
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
and
Sweden (especially Lapland) on the same day.
The Sámi Council earlier had full ownership to the flag and other national symbols, but since the 18th Sámi Conference they now share that ownership with the
Sámi Parliamentary Council. The joint committee of national symbols also has the duty right to determine new national symbols in accordance with international principles of
heraldry.
Sami flag days
Related symbols
Sámi Parliaments
The logo of the
Sámi Parliament of Sweden features a circle in the four Sámi colours, while the
Sámi Parliament of Finland features a circle and the three colours of the first Sámi flag. The
Sámi Parliament of Norway's current logo does not incorporate elements of the flag.
Finnmark Estate
''Finnmárkuopmodat'', the autonomous entity established by the
Finnmark Act
The Finnmark Act () of 2005 transferred about 96% (about 46,000 km2) of the area in the Finnmark county in Norway to the inhabitants of Finnmark. This area is managed by the Finnmark Estate agency.
The Finnmark Estate is managed by a board of dir ...
has a logo that according to the entity's website "gets it colours from the Sámi and the Norwegian flag, as a symbol that the Finnmark Estate feels related to and responsible for both Sámi and
Kvens, as well as
ethnic Norwegians.
..The circular shape... refers both to the Sámi flag's sun-symbol and to the solid and safe envelopment of a circle.
..It is opened up to allow the
Northern Lights a gateway into the
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
and the Sámi flag's colours."
Russian Sámi Organs
The electe
Council of Plenipotentiary Representatives of the Sámi of Murmansk Provinceuses a symbol heavily inspired by the flag: two reindeer horns joined like a crescent, the upper half red and the lower half blue, between the halves are two stripes in yellow and green. The officia
Centre for Indigenous People in Murmansk Province under which the official Council of Indigenous Peoples under the
rovincialGovernment operates, uses a logo also inspired by the flag: a circle, left half blue and right half red, at the centre of which is a brown
lávvu, a blue line symbolizing
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...
, and a multicoloured line symbolizing the
Aurora Borealis
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
, the colours of the latter being from left to right red, yellow, green and blue.
References
{{reflist
Sámi
Flags of indigenous peoples
Flags of Finland
Flags of Norway
Flags of Sweden
Ethnic flags
Flags of the Arctic
Flags introduced in 1986