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The national symbols of Estonia are flags, coat of arms, icons or cultural expressions that are emblematic, representative or otherwise characteristic of Estonia or Estonian culture.
The Estonian flag represents the Republic of Estonia. It is featuring three equal horizontal bands of blue, black, and white, and use the aspect ratio of 7:11.
The blue-black-white flag was first consecrated at Otepää on 4 June 1884, as the flag of the Estonian University Student Association. During the following years the blue-black-white flag became a national symbol.
The flag was already used as state flag on 24 February, when Estonia declared independence. The Provisional Government of Estonia adopted a resolution on 21 November 1918, proclaiming the blue-black-white flag the state flag. The Law on State Flag was adopted by the Parliament (Riigikogu) on 27 June 1922. During the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940–1941 and in 1944–1988 this flag was banned.
The colors of the flag are said to symbolize:
The invasion by the Soviet Union in June 1940 led to the flag's ban. It was taken down from the most symbolic location, the tower of Pikk Hermann in Tallinn, on 21 June 1940, when Estonia was still formally independent. On the next day, 22 June 1940, it was hoisted along with the red flag. The tricolor disappeared completely from the tower on 27 July 1940, and was replaced by the Soviet red flag.
The Estonian flag was restored along with independence. The flag atop Pikk Hermann Tower on Toompea hill in Tallinn is raised every morning at dawn, but not before seven o'clock; it is lowered at sunset, but not later than ten o'clock. The flags on other buildings are scheduled by local government codes.
The first blue-black-white tricolor is preserved in the Estonian National Museum.
Starting on 1 January 2006, the use of the Estonian flag is regulated by the Estonian Flag Act, which was passed on 23 March 2005 and the good practices that have been historically developed.
Everyone has the right to display and use the Estonian flag as long as it is in accordance with the act and follows honored traditions. The Estonian flag is displayed on buildings and stationary flag staffs on Independence Day, Victory Day and the Restoration of Independence Day.
The Estonian Flag is hoisted at sunrise, no later than 8:00 and is lowered at sunset, no later than 22:00.
The current coat of arms of Estonia is a golden shield which includes three slim, blue leopards (or lions passant guardant) in the middle, with oak branches along the side of the shield.
The heraldic lions of the coat of arms are the most ancient of Estonia's symbols. They have been used since the 13th century, when they served as the big coat of arms for the capital city, Tallinn. Tallinn got these slim blue lions from the King of Denmark, Waldemar the Second; Denmark was the ruling power in Northern Estonia at that time. Tallinn was under Danish rule between 1219 and 1346, and, according to one theory, the name "Tallinn" itself meant originally "Danish castle" (Estonian: Taanilinn); the etymology, however, is by no means certain. Various other foreign powers came and went, but the three lions remained to become the coat of arms for most of the Estonian territory. The State Assembly of the independent Republic of Estonia adopted the three lions officially by its resolution on June 19, 1925.
This coat of arms of the Republic of Estonia was in use until the beginning of the Soviet occupation in June 1940. The rendering on the coat of arms returned to the public in 1988. For the first time since a hiatus that lasted decades, the coat of arms adorned by three lions of the city of Tallinn was used as a historical element in the Old Town Days of 1988. The City Arms of Tallinn was reinstated in the same year.
Upon the passing of the Law, proposals were made in the Riigikogu on possible interpretations of the images on the coat of arms. A consensus was reached on the suggestions offered by Leopold Raudkepp:
The Estonian national anthem "My Native Land..." is a choral-like melody arranged by Fredrik Pacius, a Finnish composer of German origin, in 1843. In Estonia, Johann Voldemar Jannsen's lyrics were set to this melody and sung at the first Estonian Song Festival in 1869. It gained popularity during the growing national movement. In Finland, the tune first became popular only as a students' song, but soon it also became more widely accepted. When both Estonia and Finland became independent after the First World war in 1917 and 1918, the identical melody with different words was recognized as the national anthem of both nations. Estonia officially adopted it in 1920, after the War of Independence. During the decades of the Soviet occupation of Estonia, the melody was strictly forbidden and people were sent to Siberia for singing it. However, even during the worst years the familiar tune could be heard over Finnish radio; it was played every day at the beginning and end of the program. Thus, the melody could never be forgotten. With the restoration of Estonian independence, the national anthem has, of course, been restored too.
During the years of prohibition of national symbols, Lydia Koidula’s poem, "My Native Land is dear to me", with a melody by Gustav Ernesaks became a powerful means of expressing national feelings. This was and still is regarded as an unofficial anthem.
In addition to the three main state symbols, Estonia has chosen his own national flower and national bird. Estonia even has his own national stone and national fish, which seem to be a rarity among other national symbols. All four have gained official status.
The campaign to choose a national flower was organized by The Estonian Wildlife Protection Society. The televised contest was carried out in 1967-68. The ornamental blue cornflower was the favourite. In choosing it, several considerations were taken into account: general popularity, decorative appearance, easy applicability as an artistic motif, and domestic origin.
The cornflower has grown on Estonian soil for more than 10,000 years, from the time when the first humans came to Northern Europe. The plant grows commonly in rye fields, creating a strong connection in the minds of Estonians between the flower and their daily bread. The blossoms of the cornflower have a particularly striking graphic appearance which has led to its use by artists for decorative purposes. The cornflower is also part of the young girls' festive garland. It is possible that the cornflower was chosen as the national flower in 1968 for another important reason. People knew that the blue of the then forbidden Estonian flag was defined as "cornflower blue". This made the cornflower a symbol of resistance in its own way. The Soviet authorities responded by banning representations of the cornflower. Thus, at the 100th anniversary of the Estonian Song Festival (1969), all the cornflowers used as decorations were painted over with red and presented as "carnations".
The barn swallow, the national bird, is a characteristic guest of Estonian homes. Its call can be heard from practically every eave or barn rafter in the country. If the bird finds a suitable opening, under the ridge of a roof or a broken window, it will build its cup-shaped nest; it will even build it inside a house. The choice of the barn swallow as a national bird was mainly the result of a campaign conducted by ornithologists at the beginning of the 1960s.
Estonian national stone is grey limestone. Estonia lies on a thick layer of limestone which is visible on the steep banks of northern and western Estonia. Most castles, churches, farm buildings, and countless stone fences are made of limestone. Research on limestone and its well-preserved fossils has for centuries brought Estonian scientists international renown. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why numerous scientists supported the declaration of limestone as the national stone of Estonia.
![Baltic herring [et] Raim.JPG](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/R%C3%A4im.JPG/220px-R%C3%A4im.JPG)
Estonian national fish is Baltic herring. In the online poll to select a national fish, which attracted 50,000 voters, the pike won by about 500 votes. The group behind the idea was the Estonian National Fishery Association. A panel of judges overruled the vote on the grounds that as a traditional staple of the Estonian diet, the Baltic herring has been more important for more people through the country's history. Baltic herring has been near Estonian coast for 5,000 years.
In 2018, a wolf was selected to be Estonia's national mammal (see et:Eesti rahvusloom).
As in any other country, there are a number of other objects in Estonia which have symbolic value without any official decree. Oak, for example, has long been regarded as a sacred tree. Estonia lies in the northernmost zone of its occurrence. Mixed forests with oak have given the country its most fertile humus soil.
Oaks are part of pre-Christian beliefs of Estonians. Ancient Estonians planted oaks in their holy places. The supreme god was Taara. He was celebrated in sacred oak forests around Tartu.
Various buildings and their details are regarded as of national value. Among them are the Old Thomas weathervane on the spire of Tallinn's Town Hall; Toompea Castle, together with its mighty watchtower Pikk Hermann and the Hermann Castle on the western bank of the Narva river, which has long constituted a border between the East and the West.
Many of the above-mentioned symbols were represented on coins and banknotes of the Estonian currency. All coins carried the three lions of the coat of arms. The one kroon note bore the image of Toompea Castle. The two kroon note depicted Tartu University. The five kroon note presented Hermann Castle facing the Russian Ivangorod castle on the eastern side of the Narva river. Estonia's mightiest oak was pictured on the ten kroon note and so on. The highest denomination, the five hundred kroon note, carried an image of the barn swallow in full flight.
The symbol of Estonian fight for freedom is the core of the Cross of Liberty. It is widely associated with the Estonian War of Independence, World War II and the Estonian Defence League.
Media related to Symbols of Estonia at Wikimedia Commons
The flag of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic was officially adopted by the former Soviet Union in 1940. It showed a set of Communist symbols: a yellow hammer and sickle on a red field and, after official change of the flag's design in 1953, also an outlined yellow star, above a band of water waves near the bottom.
The national flag of Estonia is a tricolour featuring three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black (middle), and white (bottom). In Estonian it is colloquially called the sinimustvalge.
Pikk Hermann is a tower of the Toompea Castle, on Toompea (Domberg) hill in Tallinn (Reval), the capital of Estonia. The first part of the tower was built in 1360–1370. It was rebuilt in the 16th century. A staircase with 215 steps now leads to the top of the tower. It consists of ten internal floors and a viewing platform at the top.
Toompea is a limestone hill in the central part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The hill is an oblong tableland, which measures about 400 by 250 metres, has an area of 7 hectares and is about 20–30 metres higher than the surrounding areas. In folklore the hill is known as the tumulus mound over the grave of Kalev, erected in his memory by his grieving wife.
Harju County, is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in Northern Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Järva County to the southeast, Rapla County to the south, and Lääne County to the southwest. The capital and largest city of Estonia, Tallinn, is situated in Harju County. Harju is the largest county in Estonia in terms of population, as almost half (45%) of the Estonia's population lives in Harju County.
The coat of arms of Estonia is a golden shield which includes a picture of three left-facing blue lions with red tongues in the middle, with golden oak branches placed on both sides of the shield. The insignia derive(s) from the coat of arms of Denmark, which ruled northern Estonia in the 13th-14th centuries and parts of western Estonia in the 16th-17th century.
The Coat of arms of the Republic of Latvia was officially adopted by the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia on 15 June 1921, and entered official use starting on 19 August 1921. It was created using new national symbols, as well as elements of the coats of arms of Polish and Swedish Livonia and of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. Thus, the coat of arms combines symbols of Latvian national statehood, as well as symbols of its historical regions. The Latvian national coat of arms was designed by Latvian artists Vilhelms Krūmiņš and Rihards Zariņš.
Toompea castle is a medieval castle on Toompea hill in the central part of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. In modern times, it houses the Parliament of Estonia.
The emblem of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted in 1940 by the government of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. The emblem was designed by Vsevolodas Dobužinskis based on the State Emblem of the Soviet Union. The new coat of arms replaced the traditional coat of arms of Lithuania, known as Vytis, which was restored when Lithuania declared its independence in 1990.
Otto Tief was an Estonian politician, military commander, and a lawyer.
Estonia declared neutrality at the outbreak of World War II (1939–1945), but the country was repeatedly contested, invaded and occupied, first by the Soviet Union in 1940, then by Nazi Germany in 1941, and ultimately reinvaded and reoccupied in 1944 by the Soviet Union.
Upon the independence of Belarus from the Soviet Union, the country resurrected national symbols that were used before the Soviet era. These included a flag of red and white stripes and a coat of arms consisting of a charging knight on horseback. These national symbols were replaced by Soviet-era symbols in a disputed 1995 vote. Those two symbols, along with the national anthem, are the constitutionally defined national symbols of Belarus.
The 1 kroon is the smallest valued banknote of the Estonian kroon, the former currency of Estonia. Kristjan Raud (1865–1943), an Estonian painter, teacher, and cultural historian, is featured with a portrait on the obverse. A view of Toompea Castle in Tallinn appears on the reverse.
The 16th Air Defence Battalion is the Estonian Defence Forces air-defence artillery force which has a supportive military formation role among the Estonian Land Forces. Other units might have an anti-aircraft missile component, but the Air Defence Battalion is a unit dedicated to air-defence and relying on other units for infantry support, especially when defending. The main task of this formation is to provide air-defence protection and light gun support for the infantry brigades operating on the battlefield.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the Republic of Estonia.
The National Committee of the Republic of Estonia was a deliberative and legislative body, formed by Estonian politicians and members of the last government of Republic of Estonia before the Soviet occupation, to control the Anti-Soviet resistance movement in Nazi-occupied Estonia in March 1944. By April 1944 a large number of the committee members were arrested by the German security agencies. On September 20, 1944, the committee proclaimed the Republic of Estonia restored, but two days later, the Soviet Army took control of Tallinn.
Tallinn French School or Tallinn French Lyceum, is a co-educational comprehensive secondary school in Tallinn, Estonia. It offers primary and secondary education. Students perform consistently well in national exams, often placing the school in the national top 5.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Tallinn, Estonia.
Symbols of Latvia are items or symbols that have symbolic meaning to, or represent, Latvia. These symbols are seen in official capacities, such as flags, coats of arms, postage stamps, and currency, and in URLs. They appear less formally as recurring themes in literature, art and folk art, heraldry, monuments, clothing, personal decoration, and as the names of parks, bridges, streets, and clubs. The less formal manifestations may be classified as national emblems.
