Thursday 4 June 2015

Today is Estonian National Flag Day! Täna on Eesti Lipu Päev!



Today Estonians across the globe pay homage to our beloved blue, black and white national flag. Originally used as a students association flag, consecrated in Otepää on the 4th of June 1884, it soon became a symbol of Estonia and was adopted as the national flag when Estonia declared its independence in 1918.


The Estonian national flag was first raised atop Tallinn's Pikk Hermann Tower on the 12th of December 1918. In 1940 it was removed by the occupying Soviet forces. After being banned for over half a century the Estonian national flag re-entered public life in 1989 and has been flying proudly above Pikk Hermann Tower ever since.


If you ask an Estonian their favourite colour combination, no doubt you will told its 'blue, black & white'.  Blue for the sky above, black represented the soil of the homeland and white is for purity, hard work and commitment.  These colours are at the heart of every Estonian!