Flag ratio: 7:11

The national flag of Estonia features three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black, and white.

The normal size is 105 × 165 cm.

It first came to prominence as the flag for the Estonian University Student Association at the University of Tartu (Estonian Tartu Ülikool, founded 1632) and was consecrated in the hall of the pastorate of Otepää on June 4, 1884. It subsequently became associated with Estonian nationalism and was used as the national flag when Estonia became independent on February 24, 1918, formally adopting the flag on November 21, 1918.

The invasion by the Soviet Union in June 1940 led to the flag being banned. It was taken away from the tower of Pikk Hermann on June 21, 1940 when Estonia still was formally independent. On June 22, it was hoisted along with the red flag, until it disappeared on July 27.

During the German occupation 1941–1944 the flag was accepted as the ethnic flag of Estonians but not the national flag. When Germans left in September 1944, the Estonian flag was hoisted once again. On September 22, the red flag was just added. Soon, the blue-black-white flag disappeared.

The flag remained hidden until the days of perestroika in the late 1980s when on February 24, 1989 the blue-black-white flag was again flown from the Pikk Hermann tower in Tallinn. It was readopted as the national flag on August 7, 1990, shortly before Estonia regained its full independence.

The initial interpretation of the colours was as follows:

• blue mirrors the sky, the lakes and the sea of Estonia and symbolizes the loyalty to the nationalist ideas;
• black is the colour of the homeland's earth and the national coat;
• white is the people's striving for happiness and light.

See also Flag of Estonian SSR

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