Sunday 31 March 2019

Flag Waving

1983: Nordic House, Tórshavn (Design - B Jákupsson)
Nordic flags flying over national costumes.  Thanks to the Wikipedia page showcasing the artist Bárður Jákupsson's stamps I can identify the costumes from left to right as - Greenland, Sweden, Iceland; Saami, Denmark, Aland; Norway, Faroe Islands and Finland.  In the year the stamps were issued, 1983, the Nordic House initiative (promoting Nordic culture), opened in Tórshavn this fascinating building which used materials from all the Nordic countries in its construction can be seen here.  
A grey day in Greenland but their flag certainly brightens up the roof tops and it is the only national flag of the Nordic countries without a Nordic cross but uses the same colour combination as the Danish flag which is often flown by its side.
1989: 10th Anniversary of Home Rule in Greenland (Design - Claus Achton Friis)
The creator of the Greenland flag said the white stripe represents the Greenland glaciers and ice cap, the red stripe the ocean and the semicircle the sun setting into the sea.  Lets set sail
1979: The Voyage of Odin's Raven
with Manx and Norwegian flag flying on a replica Viking longboat called Odin's Raven which sailed from Norway to the Isle of Man in May 1979. The voyage was not uneventful and included a capsize off the coast of the Isle of Skye. The crew consisted of 11 people from the Isle of Man and 5 from Norway and I imagine they would have gained a great respect for those early Viking voyagers who even made it to Newfoundland but not
1981: Australia Day
as far as Australia.  I'm guessing the stamp's running cancel is connected to the then forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Brisbane in 1982. Time to run up to the top of a hill
1966: Scouting
to semaphore a message.
1959: International Letter Writing Week (Design - Adam Cziglenyi)
but I know that this would be the preferred means of communication for our little community.


Sunday Stamps II prompt this week is the letter F - here for Flags and Faroe Islands - for more fly over to See It On A Postcard


 

6 comments:

Bob Scotney said...

Great selection again and not just those with the national costumes.

FinnBadger said...

Fantastic flags.

Mail Adventures said...

There is a beautiful idea behind the Nordic House.
And yes, the design of the flag of Greenland still surprises (and pleases) me.

violet s said...

I like that Greenland went in a different direction with their flag.
And that the Dahomey scouts are colour co-ordinated with their flags!
The Isle of Man flag always makes me smile.

Heleen said...

Such a wonderful collection!

And I've never seen the Greenland flag before (always thought it was similar to the Danish flag), nor knew the symbolic meaning, so thank you for sharing and letting me learn new things, too!

Beth Niquette said...

Wonderful!