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Last modified: 2023-06-03 by 
zachary harden
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image by Antonio Martins, 22 April 1999
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From <ew80.www.ee>:
The blue-black-white flag was first consecrated at Otepää on
the 4th of June, 1884, as the flag of the Estonian
University Student Association. During the following years the
blue-black-white flag became a national symbol.
The Provisional Government of Estonia adopted a resolution on the
21st of November, 1918, proclaiming the
blue-black-white flag the state flag. The Law on State Flag was
adopted by the Parliament (Riigikogu) on the 27th of
June, 1922.After the forcible annexation of Estonia by the Soviet
Union in June, 1940, this flag was banned.
In 1987/88, during the days of the "singing
revolution", or the process of regaining independence, the
blue-black-white flag was used openly as a national symbol. On
the 24th of February, 1989, the blue-black-white
national flag of Estonia was flown from the tower of Pikk
Hermann.
Jorge Candeias, 26 October 1999
From <www.teleport.ee/~lipuvabrik/ajaloosti.html>:
The national colours of Estonia came to use in 1881, when blue,
black and white were taken as the colours of the Society of the
Estonian Students. In 1884 the flag of the Society was
consecrated in a church at Otep??. On June 27, 1922 the
blue-black-and-white national flag was officially declared as the
state flag of Estonia. According to the state flag law the ratio
between the width and length of the Estonian flag is 7:11 and the
standard size is 105 x 165 cm.
Dov Gutterman, 23 January 1999
As you are well aware, all three Baltic States use
"heraldry" in their national flags dating back to the
days of the crusades. For example, the Estonian coat-of-arms,
three leopards on a shield, was first introduced by the Danes in
approximately 1220. The Danish flag, the "Dannebrog"
(white field, red cross), was said to have fallen from heaven on
to the Danish forces who at that very moment were moments away
from being defeated by and Estonian siege army. The
"heavenly sent" sign rallied the Danes and they went on
to defeat the Estonians. To this day, the Danish flag has
remained a white field with a red cross (it is thus the worlds
longest used state flag in continuous use - over 700 years. The
Estonian coat-of-arms has remained virtually unchanged since the
early Danish period.
Arvo L. Vercamer, 29 January 1999
The late 1860's is known as the "awakening" period
in Estonian history. It was a time when Estonian culture was
beginning to assert itself after centuries of German and Russian
domination. In addition to a growth of Estonian arts and
sciences, many Estonian fraternities and student societies can
also trace their origins to this period.
One of the older fraternities was named "Vironia".
"Vironia" is a Latinized form of the word Estonian word
"Virumaa" which means "the province of Viru".
"The word "Viru" in both Finnish and old Estonian
refers to Estonia. "Vironia" was founded in 1870 in
Tartu, Estonia's second largest city and also its leading
educational center. In 1881, Tartu University Theology student
Jaan Bergmann, wrote a poem praising the black-white-cornflower
blue flag of Estonia. The poem laid the foundation for the
acceptance of the Estonian colors by "Vironia". On 29
September of 1881, "Vironia" took on as its color the
cornflower blue-black and white flag. On 07 April 1882,
"Vironia" publicly displayed its colors at a student
parade in Tartu. Within a few short years, the
"Vironia" fraternity flag had gained quick and wide
acceptance among native Estonians as representing the
"Estonian" national colors. Here it must be noted that
although the current colors of the Estonian Collegiate Society
(Eesti üliõpilaste Selts) are blue-black-white, the original
blue-black-white colors belong to "Vironia". In 1888,
"Vironia's" official "keeper of the flag"
changed his allegiance. He left "Vironia", took the
"Vironia" fraternity flag with him and joined the
"EüS". From that day forward, the EüS took on as its
colors the cornflower blue-black and white flag.
"Vironia" was left with no choice, it had to select new
colors.
By the turn of the century (1900 - 1914), the cornflower
blue-black-white flag became closely associated with Estonian
nationalism and hopes for self-determination from Imperial
Russian and German Nobility rule. Many Estonian nationalists,
both in Saint Petersburg (home to a large Estonian and Finnish
community) and in the provinces of Estonia and Livonia rallied
around the cornflower blue-black-white flag as they marched
against the Czars minorities policies.
Although over 100.000 Estonian soldiers served in the Imperial
Russian Army, Navy and Air Force (and over 10.000 of them lost
their lives) from 1914 to 1917, the Estonian cornflower
blue-black-white colors did not adorn any of the military
uniforms worn by Estonian soldiers until 1917. In early 1917, as
Estonians were granted home rule/independence by the Czar,
Estonian political leaders officially declared the colors of
cornflower blue-black-white to be the national colors of Estonia.
At 2000 hours, 23 February 1918, Estonia declared its full
independence from the Soviet Union and the flag was made the
official flag of the new republic (the first independence
declaration was made exactly one year earlier, but due to both
German and Russian repressive measures, it could not be enforced
by Estonians). The first full day of independence thus became 24
February 1918, and this then has become Estonia's official
independence day. When the Germans occupied Estonia (April -
November 1918), they officially banned the
"nationalistic" colors of cornflower blue-black-white;
but in
reality did little to enforce their own edict. Even Estonian
steamers running between Helsinki and Tallinn could openly fly
the Estonian flag without the Germans objecting to this. By late
fall, it was clear to everyone that the war was lost for German.
Estonians were just waiting for the official last day of the war
to be announced. On 12 November 1918, the Estonian flag quickly
resurfaced as the official flag of the land wherever possible.
Approximately 450 Estonian soldiers served with the Russian
Expeditionary Corps in France during the First World War. Nearly
all of them were with the 1st and 3rd Brigades in the Bordeaux
region. After February 1917, the Estonian soldiers attached small
cornflower blue-black-white flags on to their sleeves to
distinguish themselves from other Russian Expeditionary Corps
nationalities. The few cars requisitioned by the Estonian troops
in France also carried the Estonian flag as a recognition symbol.
This same practice held true for those members of the 150.000
strong Estonian community members residing in Siberia. As they
made their way back to their ancient homeland from late 1917 to
1919, they too used the "Estonian" flag a means of
identification.
From 1917 to 1936, all of the available German and Russian
military uniforms were altered or re-tailored to be more
"Estonian" in origin. A small blue-black-white cockade
was affixed to all peak caps. For the Estonian military, shoulder
boards, medals and sleeve patches centered around the cornflower
blue-black-white motif. The Estonian Air Defense Force (EADF)
(Eesti Őhukaitse) adopted as its national recognition symbol a
triangle made up of the colors blue-black-white. In addition, the
rudders of all Estonian military aircraft were painted in the
colors of the Estonian flag. This triangular recognition symbol
continues to be used by the EADF to this day. Estonia, along with
Austria and the Netherlands, is one of the few nations of the
world to use a triangle device as roundel on its military
aircraft. In 1936, the 1918 vintage Estonian military uniforms
were redesigned, now resembling a British/German mixed cut.
On 27 June 1922, the Estonian Parliament, at its fourth and final
debating session on the matter, officially decreed the colors of
cornflower blue-black-white to the official state colors. Of note
is that the decree states that the color of cornflower blue is to
be the same as the "blue" of the Finnish national flag.
The height to length dimensions of the state flag were set at the
proportions of 7:11. Poorly documented writings shows that back
in the late-1800's, Estonian and Finnish nationalists decided
that all "Estonian and Finnish peoples" (to include
Ingermans, Laplanders, Karelians, etc.) will include
"cornflower blue" as a part of their national colors.
Whether this is true or not, is clearly open to debate - but it
is an interesting little side story. From 1918 until August 1940,
the cornflower blue-black-white flag flew from the Pikk Herman
tower in Tallinn every day (Pikk Herman, the tallest tower of the
Toompea fortress in Tallinn, is known to every Estonian since
pre-school days). Weather conditions and wear on the flag caused
the flag on the tower to be changed approximately 25 times per
year. Triple heavyweight gold medal winner Kristjan Palusalu
carried the Estonian flag in to the Olympic Stadium at the 1936
Olympic Games in Berlin.
Estonian independence ceased to exist when the Soviet Union
formally annexed Estonia on 21 July 1940. At 0745 hours, the
Estonian flag was struck from Pikk Herman tower by Soviet NKVD
soldiers. It was replaced with the Soviet State flag. At that
time, Estonia also received a politically "acceptable"
Soviet Socialist Republic flag. During the first Soviet
occupation (1940 - 1941), the Estonian flag was officially banned
from display. The Soviets went so far as to ban the color
combinations of blue-black-white from ever being produced (i.e.
in clothing articles, textile designs, etc.) for fear of
inadvertently fostering anti-Soviet feelings. This same ban also
held true for Latvian and Lithuanian national colors. In mass
media publications, the Soviets often referred to the old
Estonian flag as the "blood-dogs flag" or the
"counter-revolutionary flag", etc. Despite the ban,
enterprising Estonians often found a way to replace the Soviet
flag with the Estonian flag at many official installations
throughout the 50 year Soviet occupation period.
During the German occupation (1941 to 1944), the Germans were far
more tolerant of Estonian nationalism than were the Soviets. Much
to their surprise (and dismay), in July and August of 1941, as
they advanced towards Leningrad, they found large areas of
Estonia were already cleared of Soviet forces. Estonian
pre-independence partisans wasted no time in exacting their
revenge on the retreating Soviets. When the Germans arrived in
Estonian towns and villages, the saw that the Estonian flag was
flying everywhere; an interim Estonian political administration
was already in place, an Estonian postal administration was
functioning.
Though the Germans quickly disbanded the Estonian political
organs (they had hoped that the Soviets had already neutralized
that problem), they basically turned a blind eye to the use of
Estonian national colors. Estonian soldiers serving in both the
Finnish and German military were identifiable by their small
blue-black-white shields they carried on their sleeves. These
sleeve shields were officially authorized by the German and
Finnish military. Though not officially sanctioned, many
Estonians serving in the German Army also affixed small
blue-black-white shields to their M-42 Stahlhelm's (many Latvian
and Lithuanian soldiers also did this with their national colors
to their helmets). Estonian Luftwaffe pilots painted their
propeller spinners in the Estonian colors, a practice also
tolerated by the Luftwaffe. Most Estonian's flew either with
Sonderstaffel Buschmann or in NSGr. 11. The official flags of the
Estonians serving in either Finland's Infantry Regiment 200 or in
the Estonian Legion of the German Army (20th SS Panzer Grenadier
Division) included the Estonian national flag on one side of the
flag. Interestingly, the Germans, on many state occasions, flew
the Estonian (1918 -1940 state) flag underneath the German flag
on Pikk Herman tower.
When the Soviets returned in the fall of 1944, all
"Soviet" flag rules and regulations existing in July of
1940 returned to force. From 1944, until Estonia reclaimed its
independence, no association with the blue-black-white was
permitted. By the late 1980's, Soviet resistance to Estonian
nationalism had diminished to such levels, that occasional
displays of the old Estonian national colors were no longer
fought by Soviet occupation officials.
In 1991, the Estonian flag once again flew over the land. In
nearly every civilian and military instance, the pre-World War
Two flags of Estonian officialdom were resurrected. In 1991,
Estonia declared that all rules and regulation in force on 20
July 1940 (the last day of full Estonian independence) would be
in force again. The 51 year occupation was only a temporary
aberration in the Estonian nation.
References:
Sini-must-valge 100 aastat (The blue-black-white 100 years);
Artur Taksa; Eesti üliõpilaste Selts Vanematekogu Kirjastus;
Montreal, Canada, 1982 (Estoprint Ltd., Canada) (750 copies of
the book were made).
Arvo L. Vercamer; 29 January 1999
Is this "(cornflower blue) black white" or
"cornflower (blue black white)"? Or is is some blue
shade that is characteristic to cornflower (whatever that be,
flower of some grain sort?). Anyway, is there similar description
of the blue shade by the Finnish? Finally, is the colour
speciafication of today (if there exist, Pantone) same for
Finnish and Estonian blue? Also, Finnish blue shade changed
through time, were Estonian \par following.
Željko Heimer, 31 January 1999
It is (cornflower blue) + (black) + (white).
Christopher A. Young , 31 January 1999
blue wild flower which growing in the fields of corn, etc..
(that's why the name). In French it is "bleuet", in
German "Kornblume" (same as in English), This is a
common flower.
About the blue shad of Finlad flag , that is difficult to say.
The blue colour of the Estonian flag was not fixed till the
nineties. I don't think that shade of blue changed, the makers of
the flag were using a blue which was nearest to the blue of a
cornflower. I think the two blues were the same before WWII, but
then the Finnish blue was made darker.According to
"Valtioneuvoston päätos Suomen lipun väreistä" of
the 16 September 1993, nr. 827, the blue of the Finnish flag is
officially defined as PMS 294 C, ( for the state flag the red as
PMS 186 C and the yellow as 123 C).
Pascal Vagnat, 31 December 1999
I have had a long discussion with the department of Estonia
national symbols. They couldn't explain to me how it was possible
this blue tone is so dark as at <www.riigikantselei.ee>. Nobady
use that color, BUT the law say so since 1992-
"the blue tone on the coat of arms is 285C; colors of the
triad: C91% CYAN (blue), M 43% MAGENTA (??), Y 0% YELLOW, B 0%
BLACK".
This was a chaotic time, I think that the error with the blue
tone was made by some unknown person..
I am an historian, and I know exactly - before World War II (the
first Republic) the blue tone of Estonian flag was
"sky-blue". That means strictly opponent to the dark!
(It must be a clearly optical difference between blue and
black!). I have found a link in your page to an Estonian Flag
with the right blue color (historical true, since 1884 as a flag
of Estonian student corporation, until 1940 as a national flagg)
blue color. That is <www.customs.ee>.
Indrek Kiverik, 11 January 2001
I should note that it derived or was inspired by the blue
cross of the Finnish flag, which become
officially darker twice since it's creation and also that the
used description was not "sky blue" but
"cornflower blue" - this color was then proposed as a
symbol of all finnic peoples, from western Lappland to
Taymyr-Nenentsia.
Anto'nio Martins, 24 January 2001
In the first constitution of Estonia 1922 the blue color was
fixed as "sky-blue (cornflower-blue)" at the same
time... It`s a clear dissonance! After that there was a
discussion which color is righter - dark or "sky-blue".
So we had untill 1937 a "sky-blue" flag like it was
made in 1881 (the first version!). Since 1937 the tone of blue
color on the flag was probably as today, but I`m not sure this
comes from the constitution of 1937, because the fact is that
untill 1945 in Estonia was officially used a first version of the
flag - "sky-blue", 100%CYAN! The norm of this color
from 1992 is different...I don`t know why.
Indrek Kiverik, 29 January 2001
Following Anto'nio Martins info that Pantone did not
exit in 1937, nor a contemporary law would be expected to refer
it nor CMYK, I have asked by members of Est. perliament - where
is the official regulation of national flag coming from? It`s a
fact, in 30's we had an "sky-blue" tricolor. Every time
I have received an answer - "this reguletion is probably
taken from the last constitution of independent republik"
...that is 1937. So I think the mistake (if it is) was made in
1990-92.
Indrek Kiverik, 4 Febuary 2001
Here is the picture of the
first Estonian flag from 1881 (photo 1995) to support my claim
above.
Indrek Kiverik, 16 August 2001
Indrek refers to the blue being too dark, although I would
comment that the blue on the large 1881 flag is darker than the
blue on our one. However the sashes worn by the men are
certainly much lighter.
Rob Raeside, 17 August 2001
I've looked at Indrek's photo of a 120-year old flag, and I
have a question: could the blue have faded in a century and a
bit? The white stripe is certainly a bit yellowed. Anyway,
there is a hotel here in Surrey, BC, Canada which is owned by
Estonians, they fly the Eesti Lipud with a rather dark shade of
blue.
Dean McGee, 19 August 2001
We have some manufecturors whose work is not correct, but the
department of national symbols can not control all of the
producers of estonian flags...
A lot of some dark-blue flags were been produced on the beginning
of 1990'.
Indrek Kiverik, 19 August 2001
The French e-zine "Regards sur l'Est" ("Looks
at the East"), in his special report #30, "Mythes et
Symboles", has a paper by Antoine Chalvin entitled
"L'hirondelle et le bleuet" (The swallow and the
cornflower - see in French at <www.regard-est.com>).
The paper deals with the evolution of the perception of the
national symbols in Estonia.
The author explains that, after ten years of independence, the
perception of the national symbols ihas relaxed, whereas it was a
matter of national affirmation under the Soviet era. At the end
of the 1980s, the national flag, reestablished after a 50-year
ban, was an object of veneration. Today, the flag has lost its
sacred aura, so that some iconoclasts have used it in ways which
would have caused a great fuss in the late 1980s. In 1998, the
painter Raul Meel scribbled coarse words on the flag and was
awarded the National Price of Culture. In December 2001, Kaarel
Tarand, the son of a former Prime Minister, proposed to change
the national flag for a Scandinavian-like design and triggered a
big national debate on the national symbols (1). These acts are
not widespread and probably not widely approved by the Estonian
people, but they are possible, which seems to prove that the
Estonian nation has gained in self-assurance.
In the past, the Estonians were denied any national identity by
the Soviet system, and they used two substitution symbols, the
swallow and the cornflower (2). During the Soviet rule, all
symbols (flag, arms and anthem) of the "bourgeois
Estonia" were banned. The ban was extended to the national
colours, and those who wore clothes "blatantly" blue,
black and white were bothered by the KGB. However, some
expressions of the Estonian national feeling were tolerated,
provided they were not political and did not recall the
independent Republic of Estonia. During the "thaw"
period of the early 1960s, the Estonians were allowed to adopt a
national bird and a national flower.
In 1960, the International Board for Birdlife Preservation, today
Birdlife International, proposed that every country in the world
adopts a national bird, on the model of the American eagle and
the Japanese pheasant. In spite of not living in an independent
country, the Estonian ornithologists adopted the swallow as the
national bird, which was recognized by the International Board
for Birdlife Preservation in 1962.
In 1967-1968, the Estonian Society for Nature Conservation
organized a contest for the adoption of the national flower,
which was widely aired on TV. The Estonians massively selected
the cornflower, which defeated the daisy and the primrose.
The swallow is black and white, whereas the cornflower is blue.
The association of these two symbols constituted a substitute to
the banned colours.
The Soviet power quickly understood the meaning of the new
national symbols and banned the cornflower. In 1969, the hall
hosting the national festival of choral song, the most important
Estonian cultural festival, was decorated with a lot of
cornflowers. All the flowers were hastily painted in red and
officially presented as marigolds.
With time, the swallow and the cornflower were more and more
tolerated. They were widely used during the "Singing
Revolution" at the end of the 1980s and officially adopted
as "national symbols" by the Supreme Soviet of Estonia
on 23 June 1988. The blue-black-white flag was reallowed in the
same time.
However, the swallow and the cornflower are not State symbols, in
spite of being widely used in national iconography. The 500 kroon
banknote shows stylized cornflowers and a swallow; the swallow
was featured on two postage stamps released in 1998 and 2001, the
latter for the celebration of the 10th anniversary of
independence.
Ivan Sache, 18 August 2005
This year is the 125th anniversary of the Estonian flag -
consecrated at Otepää on 4th July 1884, when Estonia was
stillpart of the Russian Empire. However you should be aware
that Estonia became an independent state on 24th February 1918
and thus the blue-black and white flag was accepted as the
national flag of a soveriegn independent nation. The official
date adopting the resoultion of the blue-black-white flag was on
21 November 1918. The date in 1990 refers only to the
re-initiation of the use of the flag which had been in use up to
1940, when Estonia and the other Baltic States were forcibly
annexed by the Soviet Union.
Toomas Ojasoo, 25 July 2009
image from <templates.earthstores.com>
From <templates.earthstores.com>:
"2004 Estonia 10 Kroon Colored Silver Proof Coin "Flag
120 Years"
Issued on August 7, this issue celebrates the 120th anniversary
of the national Estonian flag, with its three equal horizontal
bands of blue, black, and white. On February 2, President Arnold
Ruutel officially declared 2004 the year of the flag.
In the late 1860s, Estonia was beginning to assert itself after a
long period of German and Russian domination, and the student
fraternity Vironia (an old name for Estonia) chose the
traditional Estonian colors of black, white and blue as its
colors. On April 7, 1882 Vironia publicly displayed its colors at
a student parade, and the fraternity flag quickly gained
acceptance among Estonians. On June 4, 1884 the flag was formally
consecrated by the Estonian University Student Association at the
University of Tartu. The flag subsequently became associated with
Estonian nationalism and was used as the national flag when
Estonia became independent from Imperial Russia on February 24,
1918, formally adopting the flag on November 21, 1918. From 1918
until August 1940, the flag flew from the tallest tower of the
Toompea fortress in Tallinn every day. When the Soviet Union
formally annexed Estonia on July 27, 1940 the Estonian flag and
color combinations were officially banned from display. During
the German occupation 1941-1944, the flag was accepted as the
ethnic flag of Estonians but not the national flag. When the
Soviets returned in Fall of 1944, all Soviet flag rules and
regulations existing in July 1940 returned to force, and no
association with the flag or colors were permitted. The
movement to restore Estonia's independence started in the late
1980s, and culminated on August 20, 1991. However, already on
February 24, 1989, the flag of the Soviet Union was replaced by
the Estonian national flag on Toompea tower. It was re-adopted as
the national flag on August 7, 1990, shortly before Estonia
regained its full independence. Estonians have explained the
symbolic meaning of the three colours in several ways. Blue is
the sky, black symbolizes the soil, and white symbolises snow and
the bark of the birch tree. Another interpretation says that blue
symbolises faith, black suffering and white hope for a brighter
future. Designed by Tiit Jurna, the obverse features the coat
of arms of Estonia with its three lions and golden oak branches.
The reverse features a blue, black and white ribbon modelled on
the national flag. The coin is minted in 99.9% fine silver by
the Mint of Finland, measures 38.61 mm in diameter and features a
weight of 28.28 grams. The worldwide mintage limit is 10,000
pcs, and the item comes delivered encapsulated in a jewel box
with a certificate of authenticity."
Lewis A. Nowitz, 15 January 2005
There is a site that It the flag plate of Estonian flags from
1922 and (I assume) proposals for national flag from the same
period at <riigi.arhiiv.ee/index.htm>.
It seems that some of them,from unknown reason(at least for me),
are shown in separate page at <riigi.arhiiv.ee/naitused-3-2>.
There are additional pages with flags - proposals for model for
county flags and county arms at <riigi.arhiiv.ee/naitused-9-0&parent_btn=menu_11>,
and some local proposals at <riigi.arhiiv.ee/naitused-5-1&parent_btn=menu_11>.
Valentin Poposki, 28 February 2007
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