Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0346/03461.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 36KB | 631 lines

$Unique_ID{COW03461}
$Pretitle{441}
$Title{Sweden
The National Emblems of Sweden}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Swedish Institute}
$Affiliation{Swedish Embassy, Washington DC}
$Subject{sweden
swedish
century
sweden's
government
king
national
power
since
years}
$Date{1990}
$Log{Traditional Dance*0346101.scf
Table C.*0346101.tab
}
Country:     Sweden
Book:        Fact Sheets on Sweden
Author:      Swedish Institute
Affiliation: Swedish Embassy, Washington DC
Date:        1990

The National Emblems of Sweden

[See Traditional Dance: Around the Maypole to celebrate Midsummers holiday.
Courtesy Swedish Embassy, Washington DC.]

"The Swedish Flag"

     The exact age of the Swedish Flag is not known, but the oldest recorded
pictures to a blue cloth with a yellow cross dates from the 16th century. As
decreed in a royal warrant of 1569, the yellow cross was always to be borne on
Swedish battle standards and banners, as the Swedish Coat of Arms was blue
divided quarterly by a cross of gold. The design of the Swedish flag is
probably taken from the Danish flag and its blue and yellow colours possibly
come from the Coat of Arms. Not until the 1620s-i.e., during the reign of
Gustav II Adolf-do we find any reliable evidence of the blue flag with a
yellow cross being worn by Swedish vessels. According to our oldest existing
flag warrant, from 1663, a triple-tailed flag was to be used except by
merchant ships, whose flag was square-cut. Nowadays the use of the
triple-tailed pennon is reserved for the Royal Family and the armed forces.
The Royal Family may also charge their flags either with the Lesser or the
Greater Coat of Arms in the centre of the cross.

     Since 1916, 6 June has been celebrated as the Swedish Flag Day. This
finally also became Sweden's National Day in 1983. The reasons for the choice
of date are twofold: the election of Gustav Vasa as Sweden's king on 6 June
1523 laid the foundation of Sweden as a separate state; and on the same date
in 1809, Sweden adopted a new constitution which included the establishment of
civil rights and liberties.

     The colours and design of the flag are laid down in the Flag Act of 1982.

     The flag is normally hoisted at 08:00 hrs from 1 March to 1 October,
otherwise at 09:00 hrs. It is lowered at sunset, but no later than 21:00 hrs.
There are about 15 official flag days, including the special celebrations of
the Royal Family, May Day, Election Day, United Nations Day (24 October) and
Nobel Day (10 December). The flag may also be flown on special local or
private family occasions.

The National Coats of Arms

     As laid down in the National Coats of Arms Act of 1982, Sweden has two
Coats of Arms, the Lesser and the Greater.

     The Lesser Coat of Arms, the one more frequently used, is blue with three
crowns of gold, two over one. A closed crown is superimposed on the escutcheon
which is sometimes encircled with the chain of the Order of the Seraphim. (The
Order of the Seraphim, established in 1748, is Sweden's most distinguished
order.) The triple crown device has been used as the emblem of Sweden at least
since 1336, when it had long been a familiar symbol of the "Three Wise Kings".
According to one theory, King Magnus Eriksson (1319-1364) adopted the device
to symbolize his title, "King of Sweden, Norway and Scania".

     The Greater Coat of Arms is that of the monarch, and is used on special
occasions by the Government and by Parliament. Its arrangement dates from as
early as the 1440s when it was used in the seal of King Karl Knutsson Bonde,
and has been in use ever since. The escutcheon is divided quarterly and
charged with the triple crown device and the "Folkunga Lion" (i.e., the arms
of the ruling house of Sweden, 1250-1364). In the centre are the arms of the
current ruling house-since the early 19th century these have been the arms
adopted by the then newly elected Crown Prince, the French marshal, Jean
Baptiste Bernadotte, who acceded to the Swedish throne as King Karl XIV Johan.
These arms are those of the "Vasa garb" representing the Vasa dynasty
(1523-1654) together with the bridge representing the Principality of Ponte
Corvo in Italy (given to Bernadotte by the Emperor Napoleon in 1806),
complemented by the Napoleonic eagle and seven stars.

Translation of the Swedish National Anthem

Thou ancient, thou freeborn, thou mountainous North,
In beauty and peace our hearts beguiling,
I greet thee, thou loveliest land on the earth,
Thy sun, thy skies, thy verdant meadows smiling,
Thy sun, thy skies, thy verdant meadows smiling.
Thy throne rests on mem'ries from great days of yore,
When worldwide renown was valour's guerdon.
I know to thy name thou art true as before.
Oh, I would live and I would die in Sweden,
Oh, I would live and I would die in Sweden.

The text of "Du gamla, Du fria" was written by folklorist and ballad
writer Richard Dybeck (1811-1877) and set to a folk melody from the province
of Vastmanland in the middle of the 19th century. Around the turn of the
century it started to be sung more frequently, and in course of time it has
come to be regarded as the Swedish national anthem.

General Facts On Sweden

Geography and Climate

     With an area of 174,000 sq. miles (450,000 km), Sweden is the
fourth-largest country in Europe. Half its land surface is covered with
forest. Less than 10% is farmland. Lakes dot the countryside, which is
relatively flat. A long mountain chain in the northwest reaches heights of up
to 6,946 ft (2,114m). There are thousands of islands along the jagged coast.
The warm Gulf Stream in the Atlantic gives Sweden a milder climate than other
areas equally far north. Stockholm, the capital, is at almost the same
latitude as southern Greenland but has in July an average temperature of about
64F (18C). The winter temperatures average slightly below freezing and
snowfall is moderate. Far northern Sweden has long and cold winters but in
June and July the sun never sets ("midnight sun").

The People

     Sweden has a population of 8.5 million, with over 85% living in the
southern half of the country. Swedish is a Germanic language. Around 95% of
the population belongs to the Lutheran State Church.

     Like other industrialized countries, Sweden has a low birth rate which
rose somewhat in the 1980s. Life expectancy is high - about 74 years for men
and 80 for women. Since World War II, a net immigration of approximately
700,000 - mostly from neighboring Scandinavian countries but also from
elsewhere in the world - has accounted for more than half of the population
growth. The Sami people (Lapps), an ethnic and linguistic minority with a
reindeer-herding tradition, have lived in northern Sweden for thousands of
years.

Parliamentary Democracy

     Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary form of
government. The King, since 1973 CarlXVI Gustaf, has only ceremonial functions
as Head of State. Parliament consists of one chamber, whose members are
directly elected by proportional representation for three-year terms. Sweden
has had universal suffrage since 1921 and the voting age is 18.

     The Social Democratic Party held power alone or in coalitions from 1932
until the 1976 election when the non-socialist parties - Center, Liberal and
Moderate (conservative) - won a majority and formed a coalition cabinet. After
six years of non-socialist rule the Social Democrats returned to power again
in 1982. They remained in office after the 1988 election, when they gained 156
of the 349 parliamentary seats. The remainder are shared between the
Moderates, 66, the Liberals, 44, the Center, 42, the Communists, 21, and the
Green Party (the first new parliamentary party in nearly 70 years), 20.
Opinion polls since 1988 have shown a sharp drop in support for the Social
Democrats.

     The 13 ministries are small units mainly concerned with preparing new
government bills. Enforcement of the laws is handled by 100 or so relatively
independent central administrative agencies and the 24 county administratio