Estonian flags
I think that everyone can recognize the blue-black-white flag of Estonia. The three stripes perfectly correspond with the nation’s longtime desires, the landscapes and the northern chilly weather. Although the look of the flag of Estonia is more than 130 years old, it is not the only one.
The tri-color flag of Estonia was designed by students in the mid-19th century, but it wasn’t until the end of World War I, that it came to the hands of the nation. That was also the time when the Estonian people got the freedom they were longing for and chose their official colors.
But the history rolls in a circle and after two decades Estonia has lost its freedom. The Soviets have chosen a new flag – a red banner with a hammer, a sickle and an abbreviation ENSV. This model took effect from 1940 to 1953 and later was replaced with a more complicated one, which contained the favorite symbols of the peasant and worker alliance – the red banner and local differentiator – sea waves.
Since gaining independence by late 1980s/1990s the blue-black-white flag is waving on the masts again, but that doesn’t mean its fights are over. By the late 1990s during the attempts of introducing a new narration and marketing actions, which were supposed to get Estonia from the post-soviet country club to the Nordic country club (History has a separate, longer tale about that), a new pattern for the flag was suggested. Although the colors were kept, they were arranged into a Nordic cross. The idea was not accepted.
However, if you want to fully understand, what waves on Estonian masts, you’ll also have to go to the province, to the eastern part of the country. Here, on the Estonian-Latvian-Russian border you can still meet two ethnic-language groups: Voro and Seto. The first one has its official flag since now, while the other’s one has existed since a decade.
The Voro flag is a white flower or cross (looking similar either to the cornflower or the bluebottle) on a green background. This flower reminds us of the number of the communities of the historic land of Voro.
The Seto cross is more of a complicated construction. The colorful cross on a white background is reminding of those appearing on Nordic country flags, but is still a regional pattern. The white-red-blue-brown color mix is on Seto’s clothes and embroideries.
