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The national flag of Estonia features three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black, and white. The ratio of the width to the length of the flag is 7 to 11, the standard size 105 x 165 cm. The appropriate height of the flagpole depends on the size of the flag - the width of the hoisted flag must be one sixth of the height of the flagstaff.
The birth of the Estonian tricolour is connected with the increasing self-awareness of Estonians in the 19th century – the national flag is thus the same age as the political history of its people. The process concluded with the flag being declared the official state symbol by the Estonian Provisional Government on 21 November 1918.
The Estonian tricolour was born in the academic and national-romantic atmosphere of the University of Tartu during the last quarter of the 19th century. The blue, black and white flag was consecrated by the members of the Estonian Students’ Society in Otepää on 4 June 1884.
Due to the enmity of both the local Baltic German and Russian central authorities, the chances of displaying the Estonian tricolour openly were quite limited. Nevertheless, the flag became a beloved image not only to the Estonian students, but to the whole nation. The political meaning of the tricolour strengthened at the demonstrations of the 1905 Russian Revolution and was confirmed during the February Revolution in 1917 when the Estonians managed to unite their ethnic territories in the provinces of Estland and Livland into a single autonomous administrative unit, the Estonian Governorate.
The Declaration of Independence in 1918 was, quite naturally, announced under blue, black and white flags.
There are several interpretations of the national colours. According to the most popular one, blue represents the reflection of the sky in the lakes and the sea, symbolising endurance – “until the skies last”; black stands for the black greatcoat of an Estonian man or for the earth that feeds its people; white marks an aspiration towards light and purity.
During the Soviet occupation, until the end of the 1980s the authorities prohibited the use of the blue-black-white colour combination in any form.
The colours, however, lived on in the free world. In early autumn 1944 many Estonians left their country in order to escape persecution and deportation, and established large exile communities in Sweden, Canada, USA and Australia. The expatriates maintained the tricolour and other national symbols and promoted their use at every opportunity.
The return of the national colours in the late 1980s, during the collapse of the Soviet Union, was cautious but spontaneous. The Singing Revolution, starting in earnest in 1988, brought also the blue-black-white flag back into the public domain, and it was once again hoisted on top of Tall Hermann tower on 24 February 1989.
Estonian national flag
The national flag of Estonia features three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black, and white. The ratio of the width to the length of the flag is 7 to 11, the standard size 105 x 165 cm. The appropriate height of the flagpole depends on the size of the flag - the width of the hoisted flag must be one sixth of the height of the flagstaff.
The birth of the Estonian tricolour is connected with the increasing self-awareness of Estonians in the 19th century – the national flag is thus the same age as the political history of its people. The process concluded with the flag being declared the official state symbol by the Estonian Provisional Government on 21 November 1918.
The Estonian tricolour was born in the academic and national-romantic atmosphere of the University of Tartu during the last quarter of the 19th century. The blue, black and white flag was consecrated by the members of the Estonian Students’ Society in Otepää on 4 June 1884.
Due to the enmity of both the local Baltic German and Russian central authorities, the chances of displaying the Estonian tricolour openly were quite limited. Nevertheless, the flag became a beloved image not only to the Estonian students, but to the whole nation. The political meaning of the tricolour strengthened at the demonstrations of the 1905 Russian Revolution and was confirmed during the February Revolution in 1917 when the Estonians managed to unite their ethnic territories in the provinces of Estland and Livland into a single autonomous administrative unit, the Estonian Governorate.
The Declaration of Independence in 1918 was, quite naturally, announced under blue, black and white flags.
There are several interpretations of the national colours. According to the most popular one, blue represents the reflection of the sky in the lakes and the sea, symbolising endurance – “until the skies last”; black stands for the black greatcoat of an Estonian man or for the earth that feeds its people; white marks an aspiration towards light and purity.
During the Soviet occupation, until the end of the 1980s the authorities prohibited the use of the blue-black-white colour combination in any form.
The colours, however, lived on in the free world. In early autumn 1944 many Estonians left their country in order to escape persecution and deportation, and established large exile communities in Sweden, Canada, USA and Australia. The expatriates maintained the tricolour and other national symbols and promoted their use at every opportunity.
The return of the national colours in the late 1980s, during the collapse of the Soviet Union, was cautious but spontaneous. The Singing Revolution, starting in earnest in 1988, brought also the blue-black-white flag back into the public domain, and it was once again hoisted on top of Tall Hermann tower on 24 February 1989.
