Norway vs. Iceland: Flag Comparison
Iceland's 1915/1944 flag is a direct color inversion of Norway's 1821 flag: Norway places a white-bordered blue Nordic cross on a red field (8:11), whereas Iceland places a white-bordered red Nordic cross on a blue field (18:25).
How to tell Norway and Iceland apart at a glance
- Look at the main background field: Norway has a RED background with a BLUE inner cross; Iceland has a BLUE background with a RED inner cross.
- Compare the aspect ratio and cantons: Norway's hoist cantons are perfect 6×6 squares in an 8:11 (16:22) grid, whereas Iceland's hoist cantons are 7×7 squares in a slightly wider 18:25 grid.
Side-by-side structural comparison
| Attribute | Norway | Iceland |
|---|---|---|
| Aspect ratio | 8:11 (8:11) | 18:25 (18:25) |
| Layout & orientation | horizontal nordic cross | horizontal nordic cross |
| Band / color sequence | red · white · blue | blue · white · red |
| Official color specs | Crimson Red (Høyrød) (Pantone 200 C); White (statute-named); Indigo Blue (Mørkeblå) (Pantone 281 C) | Sky Blue (Heiðblár) (Pantone 287 C (SCOTDIC 693009)); Snow White (Snjóhvítur) (SCOTDIC 95); Fiery Red (Eldrauður) (Pantone 199 C (SCOTDIC ICELAND FLAG RED)) |
| Official adoption | 1821-07-13 | 1944-06-17 |
| Region | Northern Europe | Northern Europe |
| Visual similarity score | 92/100 (Layout 35/35 · Colors 25/25 · Symbols 12/20 · Ratio 9.7/10 · Geometry 10/10) | |
Why these two flags look alike
Both Norway and Iceland are members of the three-color fimbriated branch of the Scandinavian Nordic cross family. When Frederik Meltzer designed Norway's flag in 1821, he added a dark indigo-blue cross with a white fimbriation border over the red-and-white Danish Dannebrog to signify Norway's constitutional traditions and historical ties to both Denmark and Sweden.
Nearly a century later, when Iceland's parliamentary flag committee sought to distinguish the popular blue-and-white Icelandic flag (the Hvítbláinn) from the flags of Greece and Sweden at sea, Matthías Þórðarson inverted Norway's palette—keeping the sky-blue field and snow-white border while inserting a fiery-red inner cross to reflect both Iceland's medieval Norse settlement from Norway and its volcanic geology.
Beyond the inverse background and inner-cross colors, the two flags also differ subtly in their statutory unit grids: Norway uses an 8:11 (16:22) proportion with 6×6 square hoist cantons, whereas Iceland uses an 18:25 proportion with 7×7 square hoist cantons.
Explore each flag in detail
Read the complete statutory specification, color table, and historical timeline on the Flag of Norway page or the Flag of Iceland page, or return to all flag comparisons.