Flag of Åland
The flag of Åland is the Swedish flag defaced by a red cross symbolizing Finland. Today, blue and white are considered the Finnish colours, but in the early days of Finnish nationalism, red and yellow from the Finnish coat of arms was also an option.
The flag has been the official flag of the autonomous Finnish province of Åland since 1954. It was first hoisted on 3 April 1954.
Prior to autonomy, an unofficial horizontal bicolour triband of blue-yellow-blue was in use. That flag was made illegal in 1935.
At an early stage, the population in Åland wanted their flag to be the opposite of Sweden's, with a yellow field and a blue cross. That was later prohibited.
