Flag Iceland

Flag of Iceland: 3' x 5' Nylon.
The blue and white flag gained some popularity, especially after the flag incident of 12 June 1913. A young man, Einar Petursson, was rowing around Reykjavik harbour with a blue and white flag flying from the small boat. The captain of the Danish coast guard ship "Islands Falk" ("Falcon of Iceland") arrested the young man and confiscated the flag. This provoked outrage throughout Reykjavik and blue and white flags appeared everywhere. As the captain tried to go ashore to pursue the matter against the young man, he was forced to go back again under an espalier of blue and white flags.
A meeting was called and a resolution protesting against the action of the captain was adopted. The resolution also called for the official adoption of a flag for Iceland. The parliament wanted the blue and white cross flag, but this was denied by Danish authorities, apparently because the King thought this flag to be too similar to the royal flag of Greece.
The new flag of 1915 had a blue field with a red cross bordered in white. It is this flag that is used today. The design was proposed by Matthias Thordarson. He explained the colours as blue for the mountains, white for ice and red for fire (Iceland has much volcanic activity). Though the King had agreed that the Icelanders had the right to a flag, he declined to accept the blue-white-red flag at first. However, a Royal decree of 19 June 1915 allowed the flag to be used on land, but restricted the use at sea to local waters. The flag was officially accepted by the king 30 November 1918 and adopted by law as the national flag the same day. It was first hoisted (as a state ensign) 1 December 1918. On this day Iceland became a separate kingdom united with Denmark under one king.
Although the pattern is the same as the modern flag, note that the shade of blue has changed. Originally, the flag was described as "sky blue (ultramarine blue)", a light blue shade. When legalisation was enacted in 1944, the ultramarine specification was dropped, and the shade of blue got darker.

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