The Danish Flag: 800 years old and going out fashion? - a podcast by Kay Xander Mellish

People visiting Denmark can’t help but notice that the Danish flag is everywhere.

Christmas trees here are decorated with little Danish flags. Cucumbers in the supermarket have Danish flags on them to show they’re grown in Denmark. Whenever a member of the Danish royal family has a birthday, two little Danish flags are stuck on the front of every Copenhagen bus.

The Danish flag is closely associated with Danish birthdays. If you have a birthday when you’re working in a Danish office, one of your colleagues is likely to put a Danish flag on your desk. It means – happy birthday!  You may see a birthday cake with tiny Danish flags stuck into it, or the Danish flag recreated in red frosting.

The Danish flag is not really a statement of nationalism. It’s a statement of joy. 

So it was a bit of a shock a couple of weeks ago when the FDF, a kind of a Danish boy scouts or girl scouts organization, said they wanted to remove the Danish flag from their logo. 

Further episodes of How to Live in Denmark

Further podcasts by Kay Xander Mellish

Website of Kay Xander Mellish