Flags of Sweden, 16th Century - 1814

In those days, this flag can be considered to have been state flag, too.

Merchant vessels frequently used the three-tailed flag, even though they formally had no right to. Using the flag of the King and navy, would give an impression that a vessel had guns or was under the protection of the King. The same thing happened in Denmark-Norway. Only in 1663 was an ordinance issued in Sweden prohibiting merchantmen from using the three-tailed flag. On land, the flag (splitflag) was only flown from castles and fortresses. In the book Från fälttåg till folkfest (1993), there is a detail from a picture of Fort Christina in Delaware showing the three tongued flag flying over the fort. The picture was made in 1654.
Jan Oskar Engene, 1998

1761-1813 there was an all blue three-tongued flag – it was used by the "archipelago fleet" (skärgårdsflottan) (the fleet of the army), a fleet of light ships to be used in the Swedish archipelago.

(Literature: Jan von Konow: Svenska flaggan, Atlantis, Stockholm 1986)
Elias Granqvist, 18 November 1999

In 1569, King John III decided that all Swedish flags used at the peace negotiations with the Danes in Knäred should be blue with a yellow cross, because they had been like that "as of old". However, this is the first official decision known to state this. (See also the text about the flag and arms of Finland Proper.)
Elias Granqvist, 14 March 2001

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The present navy ensign was also used prior to 1815. The oldest source for this is a colourful drawing from the 1620's which now is held at the War Archive. The first act of law which mentions this flag is a Flag Act of 1663, in which it was decided, merchant ships where not allowed to fly the swallow tailed flag.

(Literature: Jan von Konow: Svenska flaggan, 1986 [knw86a])
Elias Granqvist, 18 November 1999

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According to Dr. Paul Warming, heraldry advisor of the Danish kingdom, the flag of Sweden was blue with WHITE cross before 1520.

Source: K. Sierksma in vexillinfo 43 [vxf]
Jaume Ollé, 23 July 2001

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Flag Bulletin vol. XXVI, #120, Jan.-June 1987, p. 164 has an abstract of a paper presented at the 10th International Congress of Vexillology which was entitled "A Surprising Vexillological Discovery Made Through the Study of Heraldry" by Dr. Warming. The paper states that an armorial of the Order of the Golden Fleece shows eight blue flags with white off-center crosses for Christian II, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Since Christian received the Collar of the Order on 4 Nov. 1520, the day of his coronation as King of Sweden, Warming proposed that the white on blue flags were intended to represent the Kingdom of Sweden. He also said that a 1761 Royal decree indicated that the cross had been white before being changed to yellow.

Since this was only a very short abstract I do not know what details might have been given about the 1761 decree, nor if the author considered the possibility of oxidized pigment in the armorial.
Ned Smith, 25 July 2001