Greenland flag

A sun rising over ice, in Danish red and white.

The flag has a white band on top and a red band below, with a circle set toward the flagpole whose colours are swapped: red above, white below. The white stands for Greenland's ice cap, which covers most of the island; the red for the sea and for the sun. The circle is the sun coming up over the horizon, a powerful image in a land where the sun disappears for weeks in winter. Red and white were kept deliberately to show the link with Denmark. Greenlanders call it Erfalasorput, "our flag", or Aappalaartoq, "the red one".

Greenland is the world's largest island, home to a mostly Inuit population and known in its own language as Kalaallit Nunaat, "the land of the Greenlanders". It belonged to Denmark as a colony and later a county, won home rule in 1979 and wider self-government in 2009; today it runs most of its own affairs while Denmark handles defence and foreign policy. Whether and when it should become fully independent is a long-running debate at home and a topic of international attention, which is why the flag turns up in political conversations far beyond the island.

The design, by Greenlandic artist Thue Christiansen, was chosen by Greenland's parliament in 1985 over a rival proposal with a Nordic cross, by a narrow vote. The result is the only Nordic flag without a cross, which is also why it looks so different from its Scandinavian neighbours.

What does it mean when someone sends 🇬🇱?

Usually a place, a home or a show of support.

In travel talk it marks the destination: Nuuk, a cruise along the fjords, the icebergs at Ilulissat. Beside a name or in a bio it says "I am from Greenland" or "this is home". Paired with words about independence or about outside powers' interest in the island, it expresses solidarity with Greenlanders and support for their right to decide their own future. On its own, the flag tells you none of these things for certain; read the words around it.

One misstep to avoid: Greenland is not Denmark. Sending 🇩🇰 to a Greenlander to mean their homeland can land badly, because Greenlanders chose their own flag precisely to have one of their own. Use 🇬🇱 for Greenland and 🇩🇰 for Denmark, or both together when you mean the kingdom as a whole.