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Flags of Iceland

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Family research · Phase 6b of the world atlas

Flags of Iceland

An island settled by Norse chieftains who then spent over three centuries deliberately governing themselves without a king — the Althing, founded around 930, is among the oldest surviving parliamentary institutions in the world. What follows is a lineage of only seven flags across eleven hundred years: a long self-governing commonwealth with no state banner at all, four centuries under first Norwegian and then Danish crowns, and a national flag design that has not changed once since Iceland first won the right to fly it in 1915.

The republic itself was declared on 17 June 1944 — during the Nazi occupation of Denmark, whose king Iceland was still nominally united with. Copenhagen, under German occupation, was in no position to object.

Scope of this page: the island of Iceland, c. 930–present, seven political entities. No internal regional split is shown below — Iceland has never been internally partitioned between rival governments at any point in its documented history, so this page follows macedonia-flags.html and slovakia-flags.html in tracing one whole-island border rather than inventing a division that never existed. Part of a larger atlas — see the map and linked pages at the bottom.

One island, seven flags

Iceland's own real coastline, traced whole — the same honest choice macedonia-flags.html and slovakia-flags.html made: no internal partition to show, because none genuinely existed. What changes here is only who held sovereignty over the whole island at once. Press play, or drag the slider.

Iceland is the one Nordic territory in this atlas with no land border to anyone. Every other country in the Scandinavia hub either shares a frontier with a neighbor or sits close enough across water to be swapped between crowns by treaty. Iceland's isolation in the North Atlantic meant every change of sovereignty here happened by charter, treaty, or referendum — never by an army crossing a border.
930
ICELAND
The Icelandic Commonwealth

Real traced coastline (johan/world.geo.json), no internal partition — see the rule box above for why.

How we know this. 7 of 7 eras on this page carry an evidence panel (4 attested, 1 placeholder image, 2 not yet checked). Only the ones marked attested are confirmed by the sources named under them; where sources disagree or a claim could not be confirmed, the panel says so.
the same flag, unchanged since 1915 — only the state beneath it changed
1944 – present

Republic of Iceland

RepublicSveinn BjörnssonLutheranism (established state church)
Migration & conquest:Immigration: Polish labor migrants (2004–)Emigration: to Norway after the 2008 financial crash

Who & why: a national referendum on 20–23 May 1944 votes overwhelmingly (nearly 97%) to dissolve the 1918 union with Denmark and become a republic; independence is formally declared at Þingvellir — the same site as the medieval Althing — on 17 June 1944. The date is deliberate: it is the birthday of Jón Sigurðsson, the 19th-century leader of Iceland's independence movement. The timing is also a real historical irony — Denmark itself is under Nazi occupation at the moment its union with Iceland is dissolved, and Copenhagen, powerless to object, does not.

What it represents: no new flag is adopted. The blue-white-red cross flag approved for Iceland in 1915 and used as the full state flag since 1918 simply continues, now flying over a republic instead of a kingdom — the only transition in this whole lineage that changes nothing about the flag itself.

Attestedhow we know this

Wikipedia: infobox adoption 17 June 1944. Flags of the World (Iceland historical flags): the blue-white-red cross design was approved by royal decree on 19 June 1915 and adopted by law on 30 November 1918; in 1944 legislation dropped the 'ultramarine' specification and the blue became darker. The design itself therefore continued unchanged into the republic, with only the shade of blue altered.

Not established: The page says nothing changed in 1944; Flags of the World says the blue was darkened by the 1944 law, so 'unchanged' holds for the design only. The two sources do not describe how the 1944 republic law treated the flag beyond the shade.

Paint guide
Proportions18:25, off-center Nordic cross.
LayoutBlue field; white-fimbriated red cross, arms shifted toward the hoist.
Blue#0246AD
White#F4EFE1
Red#A4302A
now the full state and merchant flag, not just a coastal-waters flag
1918 – 1944

Kingdom of Iceland

Sovereign state, personal unionChristian XLutheranism (state church)
Migration & conquest:Occupied by: Britain, then the United States (1940–45)
Ruling house:House of Glücksburg

Who & why: the Act of Union, signed 1 December 1918, recognizes Iceland as a fully sovereign state — the Kingdom of Iceland — sharing only its monarch, King Christian X, with Denmark, in a structure deliberately modeled on the earlier Sweden–Norway union of 1814–1905. Iceland gains its own flag at sea, its own neutrality in foreign affairs, and the right to revisit or end the union after 25 years — the option Iceland exercises at the earliest opportunity, in 1944.

What it represents: the blue-white-red cross flag, in use since the 1915 decree, becomes the national flag when Iceland gains sovereignty in 1918; Wikipedia says the state flag was first flown on 1 December 1918. Flags of the World does not mention 1918 and the sources read do not cover the page's claim about merchant or international use.

Attestedhow we know this

Wikipedia: Iceland was granted sovereignty by Denmark in 1918 and the flag was adopted as the national flag; the state flag was first flown 1 December 1918. Flags of the World (historical flags): the king accepted the flag on 30 November 1918 and it was adopted by law that day; first hoisted as state ensign on 1 December 1918 when Iceland became a separate kingdom united with Denmark under one king; the 1915 decree had permitted land use and local waters only.

Not established: The page's claim about merchant and international use is not in either source; Flags of the World dates the first state use to the same day as Wikipedia.

Paint guide
Proportions18:25, off-center Nordic cross.
LayoutBlue field; white-fimbriated red cross, arms shifted toward the hoist.
Blue#0246AD
White#F4EFE1
Red#A4302A
Denmark's own Dannebrog for most of this period — Iceland's own flag only emerges near its end
1814 – 1918

Iceland under Denmark

Danish possessionFrederick VILutheranism (state church)
Migration & conquest:Emigration: to North America (1870s–1914)
Ruling house:House of Glücksburg

Who & why: the January 1814 Treaty of Kiel, forced on Denmark after backing the losing side in the Napoleonic Wars, strips away Norway but explicitly carves out Iceland (with the Faroe Islands and Greenland) as territory Denmark keeps — Iceland's four-century tie had technically run through the Norwegian crown, but Copenhagen had governed it directly in practice for generations, and Denmark holds onto it while Norway itself is handed to Sweden. Icelandic nationalism grows steadily through the 19th century, led by Jón Sigurðsson; home rule is granted in 1904.

What it represents: Wikipedia says the Danish flag was required in Icelandic territorial waters until the decree of 19 June 1915 approved Iceland's flag, with a red cross added to distinguish it from similar foreign flags; it also says a blue-and-white flag was used unofficially from the late 19th century and first displayed publicly in 1897. Flags of the World says the flag has been official since 1915. The sources read do not cover the Dannebrog as the oldest national flag, the Greece comparison, or that no Icelandic flag had flown before 1915.

Attestedhow we know this

Wikipedia: the Danish flag was required in Icelandic territorial waters until the decree of 19 June 1915 approved Iceland's flag; a blue-and-white flag was used unofficially from the late 19th century and first displayed publicly in 1897. Flags of the World (historical flags, J. O. Engene): the Danish flag was used by ships and in Iceland through the union; unofficial blue-and-white flags appeared in 1897; the 1915 decree approved the present design.

Not established: The page's 'oldest continuously used national flag', the Greece comparison and 'first time a flag of its own flew' are not supported (Flags of the World says an unofficial 1897 flag was rejected as too like the Greek flag); the Dannebrog claim rests on a contributor note without dates.

Paint guide
ProportionsDanish state flag, 3:4 (swallow-tailed variants existed for state use); shown here as a plain rectangle.
LayoutRed field, off-center white Nordic cross — the Dannebrog, flown over Iceland as ordinary Danish territory until 1915.
Red#A4302A
White#F4EFE1
the Dannebrog, flown over Iceland under a Danish-led union crown
1523/1537 – 1814

Iceland under Denmark–Norway

Crown territoryChristian IIILutheranism (state church, imposed 1550)
Migration & conquest:Emigration: captives seized in the 1627 Turkish Abductions
Ruling house:House of Oldenburg

Who & why: when Sweden breaks from the Kalmar Union in 1523, Denmark and Norway stay bound together in a narrower union — Iceland, already tied to the Norwegian crown since 1262, simply continues under the same union, now led firmly from Copenhagen rather than Oslo. The Danish crown formally imposes the Lutheran Reformation on Iceland by 1550, executing the last Catholic bishop, Jón Arason, and by 1602 establishes a harsh royal trade monopoly that damages the Icelandic economy for nearly two centuries.

What it represents: the sources read (Wikipedia and Flags of the World on Iceland) do not say that the Dannebrog flew over Iceland in this period; Wikipedia says only that Denmark flew the cross in the Nordic lands it ruled. The page's governance claims are not covered.

Attestedhow we know this

Wikipedia (Denmark-Norway): infobox flag is the Dannebrog (official since 1625); Iceland was a dependency, excluded from the 1814 Kiel cession, and a colony of the Kingdom of Denmark; the Dannebrog became the union's only official merchant flag after 1748, Norway having kept its own royal standard until then. Wikipedia (Iceland): the Danish flag was required in Icelandic waters until 1915. Flags of the World (historical flags): Iceland's arms (crowned stockfish) were part of the Danish arms, ships used the Danish flag, and Iceland's union with Norway and Denmark meant the Danish flag was used there.

Not established: Neither source dates the Dannebrog in Iceland before the 17th century; the Wikipedia infobox date is 1625, and the pre-1748 Norwegian royal standard is not tied to Iceland. The page's governance claims are not covered.

Paint guide
ProportionsNo fixed civil ratio for most of this period.
LayoutRed field, off-center white Nordic cross.
Red#A4302A
White#F4EFE1
the union flag — three crowns for Denmark, Norway, and Sweden together
1397 – 1523/1537

Iceland under the Kalmar Union

Union memberMargaret IRoman Catholicism (state religion)

Who & why: Margaret I of Denmark assembles personal control over Denmark, Norway, and Sweden through the 1390s; at Kalmar Castle in June 1397 her great-nephew Eric of Pomerania is crowned king of the combined union. Iceland, already a Norwegian dependency since 1262, is carried into the union as part of Norway's own territory — it never joins as a separate party, and its day-to-day governance through a royal governor (hófuðsmaður) changes little.

What it represents: the sources read (Wikipedia and Flags of the World on Iceland) do not mention the Kalmar Union banner or its flying over Iceland; the three-crowns drawing is not documented by them.

Not yet checked against sourceshow we know this

Wikipedia (Kalmar Union): infobox gives 1397-1523 and the lead lists Norway's maritime colonies 'then including Iceland'; a gallery captions 'the unofficial flag of the Kalmar Union as described by Erik of Pomerania' and a flag captured in 1427 shows the arms of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Pomerania. Flags of the World's Iceland pages do not mention the union banner.

Not established: The three-crowns banner as a flag flown over Iceland is not described in any source read; the unofficial union flag is not described in the text read (first 100,000 of 134,275 characters); the Danish-led 1523 end is dated, not the flag.

Paint guide
ProportionsNo fixed ratio recorded.
LayoutGold field, red Nordic cross, three white crowns.
Gold#C9A13C
Red#A4302A
White (crowns)#F4EFE1
Norway's own royal banner, the crowned lion and axe, stylized
1262 – 1397

Iceland under the Norwegian Crown

Crown territoryHaakon IV "the Old"Roman Catholicism (state religion)
Ruling house:House of Sverre

Who & why: after decades of internal violence — the Age of the Sturlungs, a brutal feud among rival chieftain clans that leaves the Commonwealth ungovernable — Icelandic chieftains sign the Gamli sáttmáli (the "Old Covenant") in 1262, submitting to King Haakon IV of Norway in exchange for peace and a guarantee that Icelandic law keeps being written and enforced under Icelandic custom.

What it represents: the sources read (Wikipedia and Flags of the World on Iceland) do not describe a Norwegian royal banner over Iceland; Flags of the World says only that the red of the Icelandic flag reflects a historical link to Norway. The crowned lion with an axe shown is not documented by them, nor are the governance details.

Not yet checked against sourceshow we know this

Wikipedia (Kingdom of Norway 872-1397): the infobox shows a banner captioned 'Likely royal banner used since the 13th century', and the text says 'Iceland, Faroe Islands and Greenland remained under Norwegian administration until 1814'; it does not mention the 1262-1264 Old Covenant or describe the banner's charge.

Not established: The crowned lion with an axe is not described in the text read; the 1262 date of submission to the Norwegian crown and the dates of Norwegian rule over Iceland are not covered; Flags of the World's Iceland pages are silent.

Paint guide
ProportionsNo fixed ratio recorded.
LayoutRed field, gold crowned lion rampant bearing an axe (shown stylized, not exact heraldry).
Red#A4302A
Gold#C9A13C
NO FLAG DOCUMENTED
placeholder maroon field — pre-heraldic era, no state flag existed
c. 930 – 1262

Icelandic Commonwealth

CommonwealthNo single ruler documentedNorse paganism (until 1000)
Migration & conquest:Immigration: Norse & Celtic settlement (c. 874–930)

Who & why: Norse settlers, arriving from around 874, organize the island's chieftaincies into a shared legal and political order: the Alþingi (Althing), founded at Þingvellir around 930, is a general assembly of chieftains that makes law and settles disputes — one of the oldest surviving parliamentary institutions in the world. Uniquely among medieval European polities, the Commonwealth has no king and no central executive at all; law-speaking, courts, and enforcement are distributed among the goðar (chieftains). It ends only when internal feuding among rival chieftain clans — the Age of the Sturlungs — makes self-government untenable and the chieftains submit to Norway in 1262.

What it represents: no securely documented flag survives from this pre-heraldic era, and none would be expected — heraldic flags as a European institution do not really exist yet even on the continent, let alone in a decentralized commonwealth with no crown to fly one for. Iceland's first flag concept of any kind is centuries away, only emerging in the 1890s as a symbol of the independence movement. Shown here honestly blank rather than invented.

Placeholder imagehow we know this

This page's own caption calls the image a placeholder: «placeholder maroon field — pre-heraldic era, no state flag existed».

Not established: Whether a flag, banner or standard existed in this period was not checked. The colour shown is not evidence of one.

Paint guide
ProportionsN/A — no attested flag.

Reading the tags

Commonwealth — self-governing, no king
Crown territory — ruled directly by a foreign king
Union member — part of a shared Scandinavian crown
Danish possession — administered as Danish crown territory
Sovereign kingdom — independent, in personal union with a foreign king
Republic — fully sovereign, no monarch
Leader — the named ruler most associated with the era's start
State religion — the official/established faith, not the population's

Find the records

Family history research for Iceland lives in a different project, Record Atlas, which maps which archive actually holds the paper for a given place and era.

Search Record Atlas for Iceland →

More of the atlas

This page is one lineage in a larger set. See the region-wide map and the other countries here:

Flags Atlas indexSearch every country and hub Scandinavia hubFive countries, eleven centuries
Compiled from Wikipedia, Flags of the World (fotw.info / crwflags.com), and Britannica. Colors are close historical approximations for painting reference; pre-19th-century swatches are informed reconstructions, not official specifications. Map is schematic and not surveyed. Country boundary source data: johan/world.geo.json.