Country profile: Estonia

The blue, black and white flag was first that of the Estonian Students' Society in Tartu. It was consecrated on 4 June 1884 in the church at Otepää, at a time when Estonia was part of the Russian Empire.

Having become the symbol of the national movement, it was adopted as the flag of the Republic of Estonia, proclaimed in 1918, and confirmed by a law of 1922. Banned during the Soviet occupation, it was raised again on 24 February 1989 on the Pikk Hermann tower in Tallinn.

After independence was restored in 1991, the flag remained Estonia's; a law of 2005 now governs its use.

The colours of the Estonian flag are generally interpreted as follows:

• Blue: the sky, loyalty and confidence in the future.
• Black: the native soil, and the dark past of the Estonian people.
• White: hope, purity and the snow of the long winters.

The original flag of 1884 survived the Soviet occupation: it was hidden and, according to the Students' Society's account, buried on a farm before being recovered after 1991. Since 2016, it has been on display at the Estonian National Museum in Tartu.

4 June, the anniversary of the consecration of the first flag, is National Flag Day in Estonia.

The Estonian flag is one of the few national flags to use black without red, and the only one in Europe to combine blue, black and white.