Arbeiderens Dag…

…“Labor Day”

We’ve been warned… everything is closed on May 1st:

So un-Norwegian

I’ll take this opportunity to talk about Flags in the Norwegian culture.

There are 15 official flag days when Norwegians fly the flags in front of official buildings and private homes.  The official flag days are 1 January (New Year’s Day); 21 January (Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s birthday); 6 February (The Sami National Day); 21 February (King Harald V’s birthday); Easter Sunday, 1 May (Labor Day); 8 May (Liberation Day 1945);  17 May (Constitution Day 1814 – National Day) ; Whit Sunday,  7 June (Uinion Dissolution Day 1905); 4 July (Queen Sonja’s Birthday); 20 July (Crown Prince Haakon Magnus’ Birthday); 29 July ('Olsok' -Olav's Mass. In memory of King Olva Harldsson who died in the battle of Stiklestad in 1030); 19 August (Crown Princess Mette-Martis’s Birthday); Second Monday of September every 4 years (General Election); 25 December (Christmas Day).

Apart from those official days you can also have your own flag day to celebrate anything you like from birth, to birthday, baptism, confirmation or wedding. This is known as ‘private flagge’.

On non-official flag days, lots of homes fly something called a 'vimpel' (Streamer, or pennant), which is a long thin triangular flag. It has the same colors as the official flag, only with a blue stripe across the middle, rather than a cross. You can fly a 'vimpel' at any time of the night or day but a flag must be hoisted and taken down more or less at sunrise and sunset. “From March to October the flag should be hoisted from 8.00. From November to February it should be hoisted from 9.00. The flag is lowered at sunset, although no later than 21.00, even if sunset is later than that” (Wikipedia)

My neighbor's Vimpel	My neighbor's Flag