Norway

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Country Name

Norway, or officially the Kingdom of Norway.

Location

Norway is located in Northern Europe. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the northeast, and the Skagerrak Strait to the south, with Denmark on the other side. Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea.

Capital

Oslo.

Reason for Naming

Norway has two official names: Norge in Bokmål and Noreg in Nynorsk. The English name Norway comes from the Old English word Norþweg mentioned in 880, meaning "northern way" or "way leading to the north", which is how the Anglo-Saxons referred to the coastline of Atlantic Norway similar to a scientific agreement about the origin of the Norwegian language name. The Anglo-Saxons of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land.

Flag

The Flag of Norway was adopted on 13 July 1821. The flag consists of red with an indigo blue Scandinavian cross border in white that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog, the flag of Denmark.

The National flag of Norway's tricolor of blue, red, and white denotes the country’s liberty and independence.

The concept was borrowed from the colors of the French, American, and British flags.

The blue cross represents Norway’s union with Sweden and its past association with Denmark. The cross is also a symbol associated with Christianity and is common in most Nordic countries. The cross divides the flag into four parts with the white color bordering the blue cross.

The white and red colors represented the union that Norway had with Denmark.

The blue color that makes up the cross represents Norway's union with Sweden before they gained autonomy, a symbol that expresses their love for peace and amicable relations with each other.

The combination of the three colors was something they borrowed from France where the colors represent liberty.