Sámi flag

The Sámi flag is the flag of Sápmi and the Sámi people, one of the Indigenous peoples of the Nordic countries and the Kola Peninsula of the Russian Federation.

First Sámi flag

The first, unofficial Sámi flag was designed by Sami politician and activist Marit Stueng from Kárašjohka in 1962, using a blue, red, and yellow color pattern commonly used on gákti, the traditional Sámi garb. The design was used locally in Kárašjohka as a flag, as well as in publications such as Kátalåga 1971. Kátalåga 1971 was published in 1972 by the Karasjok Library for Sámi Literature, and the cover was designed by Nils Viktor Aslaksen. With the growth of Sámi activism and the ČSV movement, several proposals for a Sámi flag were developed, although none gained prominence until the Alta controversy.

In 1977, as the protests in Alta Municipality over a dam on the river Altaelva grew, Sámi artist Synnøve Persen from Porsáŋggu Municipality made the artworks "Forslag til Samisk flagg" (Blueprint for a Sámi Flag) and "Sámiland for Sámi", both of which used a design similar to Stueng's flag. Persen credited other Nordic flags and traditional Sámi designs for her proposal. Despite the earlier origin of Stueng's flag, Persen's work gained notice and became a symbol of the Alta protests. Persen's artworks were acquired by the National Museum in 2018, after being featured locally and internationally in multiple media and exhibitions; it is usually introduced as "the first Sámi flag" without reference to Marit Stueng.

Second Sámi flag

The first official Sámi flag was recognized and inaugurated on 15 August 1986 by the 13th Nordic Sami Conference in Åre, Sweden.