The Flag of the Nordic Council is white, with a stylised circular motif of a white swan upon a blue (Pantone Reflex Blue C) disk. The Swan has enough wing feathers standing for the eight members and territories of the Council: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Åland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
The swan symbol was chosen to represent the Nordic Council, and the Nordic Council of Ministers, in 1984. It is also designed to symbolise wider Nordic cooperation. The flag was designed by Kyösti Varis, an artist from Finland.
The full members of the Nordic council all use a Nordic Cross Flag. The Nordic Cross was also use in the Flag of the Kalmar Union. The Kalmar Union was the only time when all Nordic countries were under a single state - hence it has traditionally been a sign of unity before the Nordic Council adopted the swan flag.
Famous quotes containing the words flag and/or council:
“Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow—red, yellow, brown, black and white—and we’re all precious in God’s sight.”
—Jesse Jackson (b. 1941)
“I haven’t seen so much tippy-toeing around since the last time I went to the ballet. When members of the arts community were asked this week about one of their biggest benefactors, Philip Morris, and its requests that they lobby the New York City Council on the company’s behalf, the pas de deux of self- justification was so painstakingly choreographed that it constituted a performance all by itself.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)