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Adopted 17 July 1821 as
a civil ensign only in N Atlantic, since 1838 usage unrestricted. From
1748 to 1814 Norwegian ships flew the Danish Dannebrog. In 1814,
when Norway was united with Sweden, the Norwegians obtained the right to
carry the Dannebrog with the canton charged with the Norwegian
golden lion, crowned and holding an axe. Nevertheless, the struggle for
a purely Norwegian flag continued and in 1821 the parliament adopted a
new design, the Dannebrog with a dark blue cross positioned within the
white one. The combination of red, white and blue followed the French
revolutionary Tricolore as well as the flags of the united States
and the United Kingdom, and was at that time regarded as a symbol of
Freedom. The cross was a common symbol of the national flags of Denmark
and Sweden.
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