Icelandic National Flag

Design

Regular national flag

The following description of the Icelandic national flag is given in Article 1 of the Flag Act No. 34/1944: “The blue hoist sections are square and the blue fly sections are the same width as the two squares, but twice as long. The red cross should be set in the centre of the white cross to form white stripes of an equal width along its sides. The width of the red cross should be 1/9 of the width of the flag, and the white stripes half as wide, i.e. 1/18 of the width of the flag.”

The Flag Act states that the flag colours are “sky blue,” fire red” and “snow white.” To dispel any doubt concerning the colours, standards are now used as a reference, as stated in Announcement No. 32/2016 on the Icelandic Flag issued by the Prime Minister.

Announcement No. 6/1991 states that details of the flag colours are provided by the Prime Minister's Office and Icelandic embassies abroad. Furthermore, the flag in its correct colours and proportions shall be on display in the National Museum of Iceland and in police stations.

State flag

The state flag (swallowtail flag) is the regular national flag with a swallowtail at the fly end. It differs from the national flag in that its fly end sections are three times the length of the hoist sections, with the fly end cut along straight lines drawn from its corners towards its centre line to intersect the inside border between the fly end sections at the point where 4/7 of their outer length and 3/7 of their inner length meet. The red cross is cut perpendicularly where these lines meet its arm.

Presidential flag

The flag of the President of Iceland is the state flag (swallowtail) figuring the Icelandic coat of arms where the arms of the cross meet, with shield bearers on a white rectangular field.

Customs flag

The customs flag is the state flag with a capital T (the Icelandic word for customs is “Tollur”) in the centre of the canton. The T-form is silver. The height of the T is half the width of the canton.

Proportion

Flag colours

Announcement No. 32/2016 on the Icelandic Flag issued by the Prime Minister. Colours of the Icelandic national flag are the following:

The colours are based on the SCOTDIC system (Standard Coulour of Textiel, — Dictionnaire Internationale de la Couleur) as follows:

• Sky blue: SCOTDIC nr. 693009.
• Snow white: SCOTDIC nr. 95.
• Fire red: SCOTDIC ICELAND FLAG RED.

Colour systems and codes for print and monitors:

1. Pantone colour system:
   1. Sky blue: Pantone nr. 287.
   2. Snow white: No Pantone (opaque white).
   3. Fire red: Pantone nr. 199.
2. CMYK colour model:
   1. Sky blue: CMYK nr. 100/75/2/18.
   2. Snow white: CMYK nr. 0/0/0/0.
   3. Fire red: CMYK nr. 0/100/72/0.
3. RGB colour codes:
   1. Sky blue: RGB nr. 2/82/156.
   2. Snow white: RGB nr. 255/255/255.
   3. Fire red: RGB nr. 220/30/53.
4. HEX colour codes:
   1. Sky blue: HEX nr. #02529C.
   2. Snow white: HEX nr. #FFFFFF.
   3. Fire red: HEX nr. #DC1E35.
5. Avery colour system:
   1. Sky blue: Avery nr. 520.
   2. Snow white: Avery nr. 501.
   3. Fire red: Avery nr. 503.

Further information about the flag colours are provided by the Prime Minister’s Office and Icelandic embassies abroad. The flag in its correct colours and proportions shall be on display in the National Museum of Iceland and in police stations. These provision are based on Article 13, cf. Article 9, of the Flag Act No. 34/1944. 

Flag days

Presidential decree on flag days and flag times, 1991 No. 5, 23 January

Article 1

The flag shall be flown on public buildings which are under the supervision of officials or directors specially appointed by the state, on the following days:

1. The birthday of the President of Iceland
2. New Year's Day
3. Good Friday
4. Easter Sunday
5. First Day of Summer (last Thursday in April)
6. May Day
7. Whit Sunday
8. Seamen's Day (first Sunday in June)
9. June 17 (National Day)
10. December 1 (Home Rule Day)
11. Christmas Day
12. November 16,  Jónas Hallgrímsson's birthday (Day of the Icelandic Tongue)

On all the above days the flag shall be fully drawn, except Good Friday, when it is flown at half mast.

Article 2

Other days than those stated in Article 1 and the occasions on which the flag shall be flown on land shall be decided by the Office of the Prime Minister.

Article 3

A flag shall not be hoisted before seven o'clock in the morning and normally not be flown for longer than sunset, and never until midnight.

If a flag is flown at an outdoor gathering, official ceremony, funeral or commemorative event, the flag may be flown later than sunset or for the duration of the ceremony, but never longer than until midnight.

Article 4

The Icelandic Coast Guard or Icelandic Maritime Administration shall be consulted on the use of flags on boats and ships.

Article 5

This Presidential decree enters into force immediately.