Many people recognize the blue flag of Iceland with its red and white cross.
OK - many people here may be my brother Scott, who studied the flag entry in the encyclopedia while we were growing up.
Still, this is the present day flag of Iceland, plastered over shelf after shelf of souvenir merchandise. So I was intrigued to see the sky blue flag with a thin white cross on display in the National Museum.
Turns out that this was the first flag of Iceland, flown by many of the fishermen around the turn of the 20th century.
This was also a particularly contentious time in Icelandic history. The country was arguing with the Danish for its right to become van independent nation. The Danes didn't like the blue and white flag, saying it was too much like Greece.
One day a fisherman was out in his boat, flying the blue and white flag. A Danish ship stopped him and confiscated the flag. Word spread all over Reykjavik of the incident, and a plethora of houses immediately began flying the flag.
Iceland got its freedom, but kept the flag with the deeper blue background and fiery cross. Probably a fair compromise.
(Note: the size of the fisherman's boat and Danish ship vary from story to story. Some make it sound like a real David and Goliath moment.)
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