View source for Flag of Greenland

{{short description|none}}
{{Infobox National flag
| Name = Greenland
| Image = Flag of Greenland.svg
| Nickname = ''Erfalasorput'' ("our flag")
| Morenicks = ''Aappalaartoq'' ("the red")
| Use = 111100
| Symbol = {{FIAV|111100}} {{FIAV|normal}} {{FIAV|Mirror}}
| Proportion = 2:3
| Adoption = 21 June 1985<ref name="naalakkersuisut">{{Cite web |url=http://naalakkersuisut.gl/en/About-government-of-greenland/About-Greenland/Politics-in-Greenland |title=Politics in Greenland – Government of Greenland |access-date=2014-09-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015044141/http://naalakkersuisut.gl/en/About-government-of-greenland/About-Greenland/Politics-in-Greenland |archive-date=2017-10-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| Design = A horizontal bicolour of white and red<!-- (PMS 186C/Pantone 032)-->, with a [[Tincture (heraldry)#Counterchanging|counterchanged]] disk slightly off-centre towards the hoist.
| Designer = [[Thue Christiansen]]
}}
[[File:Greenland flag on building perspective.jpg|thumb|Greenland flag painted vertically on an apartment block ([[Blok P]]) in [[Nuuk]]]]
[[File:Upernavik first day in class 2007-08-14 2.jpg|thumb|Schoolchildren in [[Upernavik]] with flags]]
The '''flag of Greenland''' ({{langx|kl|Kalaallit erfalasuat}}, {{langx|da|Grønlands flag}}) was designed by [[Greenland]] native [[Thue Christiansen]].<ref name=norden>{{cite news |title=Greenland's flag |url=http://www.norden.org/en/the-nordic-region/the-nordic-flags/greenlands-flag |work=[[Nordic Council]] |access-date=8 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315095254/http://www.norden.org/en/the-nordic-region/the-nordic-flags/greenlands-flag |archive-date=15 March 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> It features two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red (bottom) with a counter-changed red-and-white disk slightly to the hoist side of centre. The entire flag measures 18 by 12 parts; each stripe measures 6 parts; the disk is 8 parts in diameter, horizontally offset by 7 parts from the hoist to the centre of the circle, and vertically centered.
Its local name in the [[Kalaallisut language|Greenlandic language]] is ''{{Lang|kl|Erfalasorput}}'', which means "our flag". The term ''{{Lang|kl|Aappalaartoq}}'' (meaning "the red") is also used for both the Greenlandic flag and the [[flag of Denmark]] (''{{Lang|da|Dannebrog}}''). Today, Greenlanders display both the ''{{Lang|kl|Erfalasorput}}'' and the ''{{Lang|da|Dannebrog}}''<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Greenland flag in the capital Nuk, Greenland |url=http://www.grida.no/resources/4205 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214065915/https://www.grida.no/resources/4205 |archive-date=2018-12-14 |access-date=2018-12-11 |website=GRID-Arendal}}</ref>&mdash;often side by side. The flag of Greenland is the only national flag of a Nordic country or territory without a [[Nordic Cross|Nordic cross]], but is similar to the cultural [[Sámi flag]], which also features a circular design and [[:w:Tincture (heraldry)#Counterchanging|counterchanging]] of field and charge.
== History ==
Greenland first entertained the idea of a flag of its own in 1973 when five Greenlanders proposed a green, white and blue flag. The following year, a newspaper solicited eleven design proposals (all but one of which was a [[Nordic Cross Flag| Nordic cross]]) and polled the people to determine the most popular.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UiLFMfm1R9AC&pg=PA168|title=Denmark-Greenland in the Twentieth Century|last=Sørensen|first=Axel Kjær|date=2009|publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press|isbn=9788763512763|language=en}}</ref> The [[flag of Denmark]] was preferred to the others. Little came of this effort.
In 1978, [[Denmark]] granted [[home rule]] to Greenland, making it an equal member of the [[Danish Realm]]. The home rule government held an official call for flag proposals, receiving 555 (of which 293 were submitted by Greenlanders).
[[File:Flag of Greenland Construction.svg|thumb|Construction sheet of the flag of Greenland]]
The deciding committee came to [[Consensus decision-making|no consensus]], so more proposals were solicited. Finally, the present red-and-white design by [[Thue Christiansen]] narrowly won over a green-and-white Nordic cross by a vote of fourteen to eleven.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/nu-vajer-det-groenlandske-flag-over-danmark|title=Nu vajer det grønlandske flag over Danmark|date=21 June 2016 |access-date=2016-06-24}}</ref> Christiansen's red-and-white flag was officially adopted on 21 June 1985.<ref name=norden/>
To honour the tenth anniversary of the flag, the Greenland [[Post Office]] issued commemorative [[postage stamp]]s and a leaflet by the flag's creator.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://flagspot.net/flags/gl.html#meaning|title=Greenland (Denmark)|website=flagspot.net|access-date=2017-09-01}}</ref> He described the white stripe as representing the [[glacier]]s and ice cap, which cover more than 80% of the island; the red stripe, the [[ocean]]; the red semicircle, the sun, with its bottom part sunk in the ocean; and the white semicircle, the [[iceberg]]s and pack ice. The design is also reminiscent of the setting [[Sun]] half-submerged below the horizon and reflected on the sea.<ref name="naalakkersuisut"/> In 1985, it was reported that Greenland's flag had exactly the same motif as the flag of the Danish rowing club HEI Rosport, which was founded before Greenland's flag was chosen. It is not clear whether this is a case of plagiarism or just a coincidence, but the rowing club gave Greenland permission to use their flag.<ref>{{cite web|title=(Danish) Grønland må gerne bruge roklub-flag|date=3 October 2006 |url=http://politiken.dk/indland/ECE181234/groenland-maa-gerne-bruge-roklub-flag/|publisher=Politiken|access-date=15 July 2014}}</ref>
The colours of the flag are the same as those of the [[flag of Denmark]], symbolizing Greenland's place in the Danish realm.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Greenland Flag |url=https://www.norden.org/en/fakta-om-norden-1/the-nordic-flags/the-greenland-flag |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304060239/https://www.norden.org/en/fakta-om-norden-1/the-nordic-flags/the-greenland-flag |archive-date=Mar 4, 2018 |website=Nordic Co-operation}}</ref>
{{gallery|mode=nolines|whitebg=y|height=100|align=center
|Flag of Iceland (KGH).svg|The flag of the [[Royal Greenland Trading Department]] used before 1908|Flag of Denmark.svg|The [[flag of Denmark]] was used before the Greenlandic flag became official.
|Flag of Greenland.svg|{{FIAV|normal}} Current Greenlandic flag
}}
==Other proposals==
{{gallery|mode=nolines|whitebg=y|align=center|height=100
|Proposed flag of Greenland (1973).svg|{{FIAV|proposal}}The first proposed flag of Greenland (1973)
|File:Proposed flag of Greenland (1974).svg|{{FIAV|proposal}}Proposed flag of Greenland by Stephen Petersen (1974)|Proposed flag of Greenland (1984).svg|{{FIAV|proposal}}Proposed flag of Greenland by Sven Tito Achen (1984)
|Proposed flag of Greenland (1991).svg|{{FIAV|proposal}}Proposed flag of Greenland by Andersson (1991)
|title=Proposed flags of Greenland<ref>https://flagmakers.co.uk/media/qhgmbvej/flag-of-greenland-a-brief-history-download.pdf</ref>}}
==See also==
{{Portal|Kingdom of Denmark}}
*[[Flag of Denmark]]
*[[Flag of the Faroe Islands]]
*[[List of flags of Denmark]]
*[[Raven banner]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gl.html FOTW: Greenland] - History of the ''flag''
* [http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gl-oprop.html Other flag proposals] for a [[Nordic cross]] design
* http://www.flagscorner.com/greenland-flag/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217000518/http://www.flagscorner.com/greenland-flag |date=2020-02-17 }}
{{Greenland topics}}
{{Danish flags}}
{{Flag of Europe}}
{{Flags of North America}}
{{nationalflags}}
{{Lists of flags}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flag of Greenland}}
[[Category:Flags introduced in 1989|Greenland]]
[[Category:National symbols of Greenland]]
[[Category:National flags|Greenland]]
[[Category:Red and white flags|Greenland]]
[[Category:Flags with circles]]
[[Category:Flags adopted through competition|Greenland]]
[[Category:Flags of Denmark|Greenland]]
[[Category:Flags of Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Greenland]]
[[Category:1989 establishments in Greenland]]
[[Category:Flags of dependent territories|Greenland]]