Kingdom of Sweden ~ Grunge War Flag (1663/1906 - )

The Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige) gained independence from Denmark in 1525 under its new king Gustav Vasa. It emerged as one of the great powers of the seventeenth century, playing an active role in the Thirty Years’ War (1618 – 1648) from 1630 and seizing considerable territories in the Baltic, thus turning the Baltic Sea into a de facto Swedish lake. However, Russia shattered Swedish ambitions in the Great Northern War (1700 – 1721), causing Sweden to initiate a slow transition to being a peaceful secondary power, having remained at peace since the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1814.

The Swedish flag consists of a yellow-gold Scandinavian cross on a blue field. The colours have been associated with Sweden since at least the days of king Magnus III, who ruled from 1275 to 1290. The first official mention of the design as a flag dates back to 1562. Originally a swallow-tailed flag, it became a triple-tailed flag in 1663, a design which was officially adopted as a naval and war ensign in 1906.

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