Astrid Båhl (born Astrid Margarete Bål; 6 June 1959) is a

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 ...

Sámi 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, R ...

artist. In addition to her other work, she also designed the

Sámi flag The Sámi flag is the flag of Sápmi and the Sámi people, one of the indigenous people groups of the Nordic countries and the Kola Peninsula of the Russian Federation. First Sámi flag The first, unofficial Sámi flag was designed by Sa ...

Biography

Astrid Båhl was born in 1959 in

Karesuando Karesuando (; fi, Kaaresuvanto or ; Sami: , or ) is the northernmost locality in Sweden. It is situated in Kiruna Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden, with 303 inhabitants in 2010 and 350 in 2011. It is a church village, located alongsid ...

Norrbotten County Norrbotten County ( sv, Norrbottens län; se, Norrbottena leatna, fi, Norrbottenin lääni) is the northernmost county or '' län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares border ...

, Sweden, and she moved as a child to

Skibotn Skibotn ( se, Ivgubahta, Kven: ''Yykeänperä'') is a village in Storfjord Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located on the southeastern shore of the Lyngen fjord in Northern Norway. The village area is located at the cros ...

Storfjord Municipality Storfjord ( se, Omasvuotna ; fkv, Omasvuono) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hatteng. Other villages in Storfjord include Elvevoll, Oteren, and Skibotn. Th ...

, 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 t ...

. She studied art education in secondary school in

Narvik ( se, Áhkanjárga) is the third-largest municipality in Nordland county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Narvik. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Ankenesstranda, Ba ...

, and continued her training at the

Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry The National College of Art and Design ( no, Statens håndverks- og kunstindustriskole) was established in 1818. In 1996 the National College of Art and Design became part of Oslo National Academy of the Arts (''Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo'', KHiO). ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, where she studied

textile printing Textile printing is the process of applying Color of clothing, color to textile, fabric in definite patterns or designs. In properly printing, printed fabrics the colour is bonded with the fiber, fibre, so as to resist washing and friction. ...

, graphic design, and freehand drawing. Båhl has exhibited her work in several exhibitions, including "Mijjen luunie – Kums oss" a South Sámi mobile exhibition in 1994, and " ČSV- å visualisere Sápmi" on

Jeløya Jeløya is an island located in the municipality of Moss in Østfold County, Norway. History Jeløya was actually a peninsula in the Oslofjord, but was divided from the mainland in 1855 by the Moss canal (''Mossekanalen'') a 20-meter broad cana ...

in 2006. In 1986, she won a competition sponsored by the newspaper '' Sámi Áigi'' to design a flag for 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, Rus ...

, beating over 70 other entries. The flag was officially adopted and raised for the first time at the 13th Sámi 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 ...

, Sweden on 15 August 1986. According to Båhl, the flag design was inspired by the Southern Sámi-language poem "Päiven Pārne'" (Sons of the Sun) by

Anders Fjellner Anders Fjellner (18 September 179522 February 1876) was a Sámi priest and poet known for his epic poem "Päiven Pārne'" ("Sons of the Sun") and his contributions to 19th Century ethnographic studies of Sámi people. Early life Fjellner was born ...

and symbolizes that the sun gives life to the earth. In her design, Båhl also drew inspiration from old writings and books about

Sámi languages Sámi languages ( ), in English also rendered as Sami and Saami, are a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Sámi people in Northern Europe (in parts of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden, and extreme northwestern Russia). There are, depend ...

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

, and symbolism. Båhl also designed the Norwegian

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the ...

s for Tråante 2017, a festival commemorating the 100th anniversary of the

Sámi Assembly of 1917 The Sámi Assembly of 1917 was the first Sámi National Assembly. The Sámi who took part in the assembly were from both Norway and Sweden. The meeting was held at the Methodist Church in Trondheim from 6 to 9 February 1917. The Sámi National D ...

in Trondheim.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahl, Astrid 1959 births Norwegian Sámi people Sámi artists Norwegian artists People from Storfjord Living people Flag designers