flag of Estonia

The Estonian students’ association Vironia was founded on September 29, 1881, when the country was part of the Russian Empire. The organization was dedicated to preserving the cultural traditions and language of Estonia, which were being suppressed. At its founding, Vironia adopted a flag with horizontal stripes of blue, black, and white—colours said to stand for the sky (blue), the soil (black), and the aspiration toward freedom for their homeland (white). A dedication ceremony for the new flag took place in secret on June 4, 1884, and it flew again during the 1905 Russian Revolution. Finally, on February 24, 1918, Estonia became independent under the blue-black-white flag, which was officially recognized in the constitution of July 4, 1920.

After the Soviet Union absorbed Estonia in 1940, the blue-black-white flag was outlawed, but most Estonians resented the subsequent imposition of Soviet Red Banner designs. Thus, with the loosening of Soviet controls in the 1980s, the Estonian government recognized the old blue-black-white colours on June 23, 1988. The flag itself was readopted on October 20 that year, and it completely replaced the Soviet Estonian flag on May 8, 1990. Memory of the 1918–40 flag had been kept alive by Estonians in exile in Sweden, the United States, and elsewhere.