Religious flags in Sweden

by Elias Granqvist,

The flag of the Church of Sweden (Svenska kyrkan) is a banner of the arms of the said church. The Church of Sweden is a Lutheran Christian church, the biggest religious society in Sweden, and was the state church until 31 December 1999.
Elias Granqvist, 10 July 2000

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At least some of the dioceses use flags, as far as I know. They are also using banners of arms. A commonly used flag at churches is the flag of the Church of Sweden.
Elias Granqvist, 15 August 2000

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The Church of Sweden has recently started to use a different drawing of its arms. In a heraldic sense however, the arms has not been altered. (It may also be that my drawing of the flag, which we display, is not exactly as the flag is made in reality)
Elias Granqvist, 3 April 2005

Different sorts of flags seem to be in use. See: http://www.orax.se/produkt_flaggor.asp which shows a 'fassadflagga' and a 'vimpel' plus PMS values. The pictures are clickable (dimensions in cm will appear).

Among the articles offered at www.verbum.se are various kinds of flag, too.
Jan Mertens, 4 April 2005

From the English version of the Stockholm diocese page (26 May 2000):

Catholics: 165,691 (2 per cent of the 8.8 million population)
Diocese: 1 (Stockholm Diocese covers all Sweden)
Parishes: 38

I recently saw a flag which was yellow with a white cross. It had the proportions of the flag of Sweden and the colours of the Vatican flag and was displayed outside a Catholic church in Stockholm.
Anders Hanquist, 25 May 2000

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Here is a response from the Katolska Stiftet in Sweden:

"Dear Sir
It is the flag of the Catholic cathedral, not of the Catholic Church in Sweden.
Sincerely yours
Eva Welin secretary for information"

Lewis A. Nowitz, 26 May 2000

Editor's note: This information was confirmed by Dean Lars Cavallin on 14 July 2000. The Dean also mentions, that the colours are the clerical colours of gold and silver (yellow and white), the same as for the Holy See (Vatican City State).