Flags of Estonia

The coat of arms of Estonia has rather deep historical roots, and it came from the same source, as the coat of arms of Denmark and England. First the coat of arms with the image of three leopards of dark blue colour on a gold shield became an element of the coat of arms of Tallinn in 1219, and then it was the coat of arms of the Eastland province. Since 1925 the so-called " coat of arms with three lions " is the State Emblem of the Estonian republic. The national flag of Estonia originates from the epoch of the national awakening. In 1881 the Society of students of Estonia has chosen the colours of their corporation -dark blue, black and white. Already in the end of the nineteenth century these colours became for Estonians the conventional national colours. In 1920 dark blue-black-and-white flag became a national flag of Estonia. Dark blue colour of the flag symbolizes the sky and a fidelity to the fatherland, black is the native ground and diligence, white is simplicity, cleanliness, and a bright future

It is necessary to note, that within the Soviet occupation the coat of arms, the flag and the hymn of Estonia have been forbidden. Those who used this symbolic were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. Other symbols of Estonia are the national flower - a cornflower, the bird - swallow, the limestone.