Presentation

The Swedish (Svear—‘people of the South,’ the Suiones of Tacitus) originally inhabited Svealand, Götaland—the land of the Goths in the region of Lakes Vättern and Vänern—and the island of Gotland. About three hundred thousand Swedish-speaking Finns (Finlandssvenskar), citizens of Finland, live along the Finnish coast and in the Åland Islands (autonomous since 1921), where their ancestors settled from the 12th and 13th centuries onward. Scania, which belonged to Denmark until 1658, has a distinct cultural and historical identity.

The flag with the Scandinavian cross displays the heraldic colors. It was established in 1569 and its proportions defined in 1663 (see C. Nevéus and B. J. De Wærn, Ny svensk vapenbok, Stockholm, 1992).

Here we depict the three crowns of the Swedish coat of arms and the cross.