The national flag of Estonia is a tricolour featuring three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black, and white. The normal size is 105 × 165 cm. In Estonian it is called the "sinimustvalge" (literally "blue-black-white"), after the colours of the bands. The flag became associated with Estonian nationalism in the beginning of the 20th century and was used as the national flag (riigilipp) when the Estonian Declaration of Independence was issued on 24 February 1918. The flag was formally adopted on 21 November 1918. On 12 December 1918 the flag was raised for the first time as the national symbol atop of the Pikk Hermann tower in Tallinn.[1]
The following is a list of flags of Estonia.
| Flag | Date | Use | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1918–1940 1944 1988/1990–present | Flag of Estonia (State flag and civil ensign) | Dimensions are 7:11. | ||
| 1918–1940 1944 1988/1990–present | Flag of Estonia (vertical) |
| Flag | Date | Use | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992–present 1927[2] –1940 | Presidential standard | National tricolour with the greater coat of arms in the center | |
| ?–present | Presidential standard (maritime use) | Swallow-tailed tricolour with the greater coat of arms in the center | |
| Flag | Date | Use | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–present | Flag of the Estonian Defense Forces | Coat of arms of Estonia in banner form | |
| 2012-present | Flag of the Estonian Special Operations Force | ||
| Flag | Date | Use | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–present 1926–1940 | Naval ensign | Swallow-tailed tricolour with the lesser coat of arms in the center | |
| 1991–present 1926–1940 | Naval jack | Dimension: 7:11 (the saltaire equals 1 part, the George's cross 2 parts) It resembles the Union Jack of the United Kingdom | |
| 1991–present 1926–1940 | Flag of Commander in Chief | ||
| ?–present | Rear admiral’s Flag | Flag similar to CinC Armed Forces but without any yellow borders | |
| ?–present | Lieutenant general’s Flag | Flag similar to CinC Armed Forces but with yellow edge only at the top | |
| ?–present | Major general’s flag | Flag similar to CinC Armed Forces but with yellow edge only along the lower edge | |
| ?–present | Chief of Naval Forces | White triangular swallow tailed pennant (broad pennant) with blue "chevron" rising from the hoist and with yellow anchor near the hoist | |
| ?–present | Chief of division | The same flag as Chief of Naval Forces, but without the anchor | |
| ?–present | Senior Officer Afloat | White triangular pennant with horizontal blue stripe through the middle | |
| ?–present | General Agent of the Navy | National flag with a white square with two crossed anchors in the top canton | |
| ?–present 1923–1940 | Presidential pennant | ||
| ?–present | Masthead pennant | White pennant tapering toward the point in the fly from about the half of the length with the national tricolour at hoist | |
| Flag | Date | Use | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| ?–present | State flag of the Estonian Air Force | ||
| ?–present | Flag of the Estonian Air Force | ||
| Flag | Date | Use | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| ?–present | Flag of the Defence League (obverse) | ||
| ?–present | Flag of the Defence League (reverse) | ||
| Flag | Date | Use | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ?–present | Minister of Internal Affairs pennant | |||
| ?–present | Border Guard pennant | |||
| ?–present | Police and Border Guard flag | Coat of arms of Police and Border Guard Board in banner form | ||
| 1993–present | Dark blue field with its coat of arms in the middle, "VIRTUTE ET CONSTANTIA" at the top, and "KAITSEPOLITSEIAMET" (historical), "1993" at the bottom.[3] [4] | |||
| 1923–present[5] | Border Guard | The letters PV are visible on the national flag which is defaced with green and yellow markings | ||
| 2004–present | Customs flag | |||
| 1923[6] –2004 | Customs flag | National flag with red square bearing caduceus and letter T in the top canton |
See also: Counties of Estonia. Each county of Estonia has adopted a flag, each of them conforming to a pattern: a white half at the top bearing the county's coat of arms in the middle, and a green half at the bottom.
| Flag | Administrative division | Adopted | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939[8] –present | |||||
| 1996–present | |||||
| 1997–present | |||||
| 1996–present | |||||
| Järva | 1939–present | ||||
| Lääne | 1939–present | ||||
| 1996–present | |||||
| 1996–present | |||||
| Pärnu | 1939–present | ||||
| 1996–present | |||||
| 1939–present | |||||
| 1939–present | |||||
| Valga | 1939–present | ||||
| 1939–present | |||||
| 1939–present | |||||
| Flag | Date | Party |
|---|---|---|
| 2022–present | Parempoolsed | |
| 2018–present | Estonia 200 Eesti 200 | |
| 2012–present | Conservative People's Party of Estonia Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond | |
| 2006–present | ||
| 1994–present | Estonian Reform Party Eesti Reformierakond | |
| 1991–present | Estonian Centre Party Eesti Keskerakond | |
| 1990–present | Social Democratic PartySotsiaaldemokraatlik Erakond | |
| Flag | Date | Use | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| ?–present | |||
| 2003–present | |||
| 2013–present | |||
| ?–present | Flag of Mulks | ||
| 1800s–present | |||
| 1996–present | [9] | ||
| Flag | Date | Use | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953–1990 | Red flag with a golden hammer and sickle and outlined star above them in the top-left corner. A band of blue and white water waves in the lower half. | ||
| 1944–1953 1940–1941 | Red flag with a golden hammer and sickle in the top-left corner and "ENSV" (Eesti Nõukogude Sotsialistlik Vabariik) written above the hammer and sickle. | ||
| 1918–1919 (50 days) | A red flag with a golden canton. Inside the canton, the texts meaning "Estonian Workers' Commune", separated by a red line: Estonian: "Eesti Töörahva Kommuun"; Russian: "Эстляндская трудовая коммуна" ("Estlyandskaya Trudovaya Kommuna"). On the red filed there are also white Russian inspections "" "", which means "On the barricades is the Estonian proletariat. For Soviet Estonia, greater Volga, Ural and Siberia, in the name of the third Communist International".[10] [11] | ||
| 1941-1944 | Red field with a white disc with a black swastika at a 45-degree angle. The swastika disk is slightly off-centre. | ||
| 1918 | Horizontal black-white-red triband. | ||
| 1896–1917 | Horizontal white-blue-red triband. | ||
| 1858–1896 | Horizontal black-yellow-white triband. | ||
| 1650–1721 | Flag of the Duchy of Estonia under Sweden | ||
| 1561–1650 | |||
| 1570–1579 | |||
| 1587–1629 | Flag of The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth | Version with additional arms of the House of Wasa. | |
| 1569–1587 | Tailed red-white-red triband with the coat of arms in the middle. | ||
| 1559–1645 | |||
| 1456–1523 | Emblems of the Kalmar Union | ||
| 1237–1561 | White flag with a black cross. | ||
| 1300–1346 | |||
| Flag | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| - | Proposed Nordic cross flag | |
| - | Proposed Nordic cross flag | |
| - | Proposed Nordic cross flag | |
| 1919 | Proposed cross flag | |
