Vindafjord, Rogaland (Norway)

On 1. January 2006 the two municipalities of Vindafjord and Ølen in Rogaland county fused to form a new municipality under the name of Vindafjord (new number 1160). The merger process had been long in preparation, involving, among other tings, the transfer of Ølen from the county of Hordaland to the county of Rogaland. As a consequence, the flags and arms of the two former municipalities are now obsolete and there is a new flag for the new municipality.

The name of the merged municipality was decided before the decision was taken on the arms and flag. In fact, there was a public competition for the municipal arms. However, none of the 464 submissions were judged to be suitable, so the decision was to adapt the design Vigdis Viland originally had developed for the municipality of Ølen: the whirl. For the new municipality the colours were changed to white and red. The new arms and flag were approved by Royal resolution dated 10 March 2006 (in Norwegian the official description of the flag is: ”Åttedelt av kvitt og raudt ved virvelsnitt”).
Jan Oskar Engene, 23 July 2006

The flag and arms of the former municipality of Vindafjord were approved by Royal resolution dated 12 December 1986 in which the flag was described as: On red five white chevrons, two over two over 1 (In Norwegian: “På raud grunn fem svevande kvite sparrar, 2-2-1”). The charges give the appearance of a collection of boat house (these are usually painted red and white). The flag and arms were designed by John Digernes.
Jan Oskar Engene, 23 July 2006

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I guess these boat houses are the famous "rorbuer", formerly used by fishers and today mostly use to house tourists.
Ivan Sache, 23 July 2006

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A 'rorbu' was made so that fishermen could live in them during seasonal fisheries, which was especially the case in northern Norway. Traditionally, the term for a (smaller) building used for boats and equipment is 'naust'. In the case of Vindafjord, located in southern Norway, the chevrons probably alluded to these smaller buildings for boats and equipment. However, both a 'naust' and a 'rorbu' could be painted in much the same style with white details against the red.
Jan Oskar Engene, 23 July 2006

The flag and arms of the former municipality of Ølen were approved by Royal resolution dated 11. April 1986 and consisted of a whirl in the alternating colours of white and green, a design by Vigdis Viland (the official Norwegian description is: “Åttedelt av kvitt og grønt ved virvelsnitt”). The motto of the arms and flag were: “Where the roads meet”, alluding to Ølen as a centre of communications. Ølen is midway on the north-south sea route between the cities Bergen and Stavanger, while the east and west road between Haugesund and Oslo also goes through the municipality.
Jan Oskar Engene, 23 July 2006

Engene, Jan Oskar; Kommunesammenslutning gir nye flagg (New flags following municipal); Nordisk flagkontakt / Nordisk Flaggkontakt [nfk] 42 (2006), pp. 50-55