Saami National Flag

Did you know that our Saami people have their own national flag? Let's tell the story and significance of the last adopted flag of the Saami!

The current flag can be seen at the top of our article. The flag consists of vertical lines of different widths of blue, yellow, green and red color and uniting their red-blue circle.

Four colors of the flag are the colors of the national Saami costume. The circle symbolizes the shape of the Saami tambourine, as well as the sun and moon. The blue part of the circle is the moon, the red part is the sun.

The four colors of the flag, as well as the circle uniting them, also symbolize the unity of the Saami of Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia (Murmansk region).

 

The flag was adopted by the assemblors of the Eighth International Saami Conference in Sweden in 1986. Before the conference, a competition for a new flag was announced, where the best of the proposed options was the work of Norwegian artist Astrid Bowl.

 

On 14 August 1986, the flag would have been raised for the first time, and the flag would have been officially adopted on the 15th of the same month. Until now, we will present our people solemnly raising this flag at all important events and celebrations.

By passing the presence of his flag, the people of Saami. It is celebrated annually February 6.

It was on this day in 1917 that Norway convened the first Saami meeting, at which the issues of unification and interaction of the Saami from the Nordic countries were decided.

 

But the Russian Saams put even more meaning into the meaning of this holiday:

In 1866, as a result of the reform activities of Emperor Alexander II, the Saami parish was created, which became part of the Kola (Alexander) county of the Arkhangelsk province. In 1868, the elected body of the people's representation "Koladag Sobbar"began work in the parish.

 

The meeting included a petty officer (managing a Saami volic), a juror (assistant manager), a scribe (a secretary who led the protocol of the meeting), a representative of the emperor (an inspector or an official for peasant affairs) and elected representatives from each society (there were several societies in the parish) and the gost (the siyt that made up the society).

The Koladag Sobbar meeting of representatives of the Saami parish was held in Kola once a year on January 25. In Russia, after the transition in 1918 to the Gregorian calendar - the date changed to February 6.

 

On the International Day of the Saami, our flag is always solemnly and proudly raised.

To learn more about the history, culture and life of the Saami, be sure to sign up for a visit to our Saami settlement. We'll wait for you to visit!