Sweden’s flag has a blue field with a yellow, or gold, Nordic cross.
The cross extends to the flag’s edges, with its vertical arm shifted toward the hoist rather than centered. This design places Sweden among the Nordic countries whose flags use the Scandinavian cross, a form traditionally associated with Christianity and shared historical ties across the region. Sweden’s current civil flag was formally regulated in 1906.
Swedish blue and yellow colors are much older than the modern flag. They appear in Swedish heraldry and royal symbols from the Middle Ages, while the earliest recorded images of a blue flag with a yellow cross date from the early 16th century. A popular legend says King Eric IX saw a golden cross in the sky during a 12th-century crusade, though historians treat that story as folklore. Iceland, Norway, and Finland also use Nordic crosses, but their color combinations differ.