The Vikings flew flags on their ships but these did not have much resemblance to the presentday national flags of the Nordic countries. The Vikings picked up the habit from the Arabs who got the idea from the Chinese. For the Chinese the colors of their silk flags represented philosophical and religious concepts, while the Arabs and Vikings used the colors to represent dynasties and individual chieftains.

The general design of the Nordic flags was born when medieval knights started using banners with crosses on their third crusade to the Holy Land at the end of the 12th century. The early flags were square, just like the Swiss flag, but then they were extended from Sweden’s 10/16 to the Åland Islands 10/19 proportions.

During the 17th and 18th century Norwegian warships and fortresses flew the Danish flag. From 1748 this was officially the Danish-Norwegian merchant flag. The present Norwegian flag saw the light of day in 1821 after Norway had separated from Denmark and formed a union with Sweden. From 1814 to 1905 Norway and Sweden had one king but separate parliaments and constitutions.

The Norwegian flag was actually designed by a 12-year-old boy called Gerhard Meltzer. His father, Frederik Meltzer, a member of the Norwegian Parliament, was in the committee formed to come up with a new flag. Gerhard drew a Danish flag and put a blue cross inside of the white. His father liked the idea and presented it to the flag committee. Gerhard’s flag was unanimously accepted and officially approved on July 17, 1821.

There are similarities between the Dannebrog and the Norwegian flag but of course there are also marked differences. Superimposed on the white cross of Christianity is a blue cross. The red and white of the Dannebrog reflected years of association with Denmark but the choice of blue was probably influenced by the concept of red, white and blue being symbolic of Liberty.

This was the flag flown by the Norwegian merchant ships until 1838 but its use on the sea was restricted. Sweden wanted the ships of both nations to fly the same flag. Norway wanted a "clean" flag, one which showed complete sovereignty. In December 1898 the restriction regarding the use of the Nor-wegian flag on the sea was lifted and was a contributing factor leading to complete separation .