Flag of Estonia
The flag of Estonia (Eesti lipp) is a tricolour featuring three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black (middle), and white (bottom). In Estonian it is colloquially called the sinimustvalge.
The tricolour was already in wide use as the symbol of Estonia and Estonians when the country gained independence in 1918. Formally, the sinimustvalge became the national flag by the decision of the Estonian Provisional Government on 21 November 1918, and the flag's official status was reconfirmed by a law on 16 July 1922. The tricolour was used as the national flag until June 1940 when the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Estonia. After the annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in August 1940, the use of the national tricolour and its blue, black and white colour combination was banned and punishable by law in the Soviet Union. The national flag was from 1940 until 1991 continuously used by the Estonian government-in-exile, diplomatic service, and the diaspora of Estonian refugees around the world.
In October 1988, the usage of the blue-black-white flag was officially permitted again by Estonian authorities. On the evening of 23 February 1989 the Soviet flag was taken down permanently from the Pikk Hermann tower of Toompea Castle. It was replaced with the national blue-black-white flag on the next morning, 24 February, upon the 70th anniversary of the Estonian Declaration of Independence (1918). The national flag was officially re-adopted by the Estonian authorities 7 August 1990, one year before the nation's full restoration of independence.
The shade of blue is defined by Parliament and Government Office as follows:
* Pantone colour 285 C.
* CMYK equivalents: C=91, M=43, Y=0, K=0
* RGB values: R=0, G=114, B=206
The tricolour was already in wide use as the symbol of Estonia and Estonians when the country gained independence in 1918. Formally, the sinimustvalge became the national flag by the decision of the Estonian Provisional Government on 21 November 1918, and the flag's official status was reconfirmed by a law on 16 July 1922. The tricolour was used as the national flag until June 1940 when the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Estonia. After the annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in August 1940, the use of the national tricolour and its blue, black and white colour combination was banned and punishable by law in the Soviet Union. The national flag was from 1940 until 1991 continuously used by the Estonian government-in-exile, diplomatic service, and the diaspora of Estonian refugees around the world.
In October 1988, the usage of the blue-black-white flag was officially permitted again by Estonian authorities. On the evening of 23 February 1989 the Soviet flag was taken down permanently from the Pikk Hermann tower of Toompea Castle. It was replaced with the national blue-black-white flag on the next morning, 24 February, upon the 70th anniversary of the Estonian Declaration of Independence (1918). The national flag was officially re-adopted by the Estonian authorities 7 August 1990, one year before the nation's full restoration of independence.
The shade of blue is defined by Parliament and Government Office as follows:
* Pantone colour 285 C.
* CMYK equivalents: C=91, M=43, Y=0, K=0
* RGB values: R=0, G=114, B=206
National flag
Country - Estonia
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The land of what is now modern Estonia has been inhabited by Homo sapiens since at least 9,000 BC. The medieval indigenous population of Estonia was one of the last pagan civilisations in Europe to adopt Christianity following the Papal-sanctioned Livonian Crusade in the 13th century. After centuries of successive rule by the Teutonic Order, Denmark, Sweden, and the Russian Empire, a distinct Estonian national identity began to emerge in the mid-19th century. This culminated in the 24 February 1918 Estonian Declaration of Independence from the then warring Russian and German Empires. Democratic throughout most of the interwar period, Estonia declared neutrality at the outbreak of World War II, but the country was repeatedly contested, invaded and occupied, first by the Soviet Union in 1940, then by Nazi Germany in 1941, and was ultimately reoccupied in 1944 by, and annexed into, the USSR as an administrative subunit (Estonian SSR). Throughout the 1944–1991 Soviet occupation, Estonia's de jure state continuity was preserved by diplomatic representatives and the government-in-exile. Following the bloodless Estonian "Singing Revolution" of 1988–1990, the nation's de facto independence from the Soviet Union was restored on 20 August 1991.