Unofficial flags of Sami People

Last modified: 1999-09-23 by phil nelson
Keywords: sami | lapp | scandinavia |
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(1) Jan Oskar Engene, 08 October 1995

(2) Jan Oskar Engene, 08 March 1996

• History of the flag
  • (1)
  • (2)

See also:

• Sami People
• Finland
• Norway
• Sweden
• Murmansk Region (Russia)

This is the unofficial Sami flag of red, yellow and blue in the proportions 3-1-7. It was designed by Synnove Persen of Porsanger (Norway) in December 1977, and based on colours used by Sami activists in Norway from the 1960s. This flag was widely used, and was a common sight during the protests against the Alta-Kautokeino hydroelectric development project.
Jan Oskar Engene, 18 October 1995

The flag described by Andersson [Andersson 92] [Andersson 94] is green and white, with proportions 10 : 16 (4-2-4 : 5-2-9). The colours are for the snow and ice dominating the landscape for a long time of the year, and for the vegetation of summer. I am uncertain whether this is a flag used by anybody at all, especially since the Nordic Sami Council adopted a flag that looks quite different in 1986.
Jan Oskar Engene, 08 March 1996