Last modified: 2006-03-04 by dov gutterman
Keywords: kitaa | upernavik | seal | sun |
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image by Antonio Martins, 10 January 2006
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The northern municipality of the West Greenland (called
"Kitaa") is Upenaviuk. The official name is
"Kommunegarfik Upernaviuk". I found the blazon of the
town at <www.upernavik.gl>
where you can find images and information too. The symbol of
Upernavik consists of a light blue shield with an orange sun in
the centre, and three white and black seals around it.
Fabio Facoetti, 24 July 2003
Photos at <www.upernavik.gl>
show only coat of arms but no flag. Therefore, this reported flag
probably don't exist (yet?). For information about the Coat of
Arms, see <www.ngw.nl>.
Dov Gutterman, 10 July 2004
The two images of the Coat of Arms, apart from the color
differences, have different rotational symmetry: The original
from [ach82] is anti-clockwise and
the colored variant is clockwise. Aachen's 1982 book, as quoted
in <www.ngw.nl>,
says that the arms were granted in 1973. It says also that
"The name means in Greenlandic, the place for the spring
catch. In the spring many seals can be found in the waters of
this (very large) municipality. The sun indicates the fact that
the municipality is high above the polar circle and has several
months of continuous daylight."
I think the full-color Coat of Arms is a decorative variation
only - see <www.upernavik.gl/photo1.html>
versus <www.upernavik.gl/photo5.html>.
Photos at <www.upernavik.gl>
imply that a municipal Upernavik municipal flag does not exist,
as only the Danish and Greenland national flags are shown in this
situation, where a local flag is expectd if it exists.
Antonio Martins, 15 October 2005
I recently researched municipal flags in Greenland by
correspondence with municipal authorities in Greenland. The
results have just been published in the Fall 2005 issue of
Nordisk Flaggkontakt, the journal of the Nordic Flag Society [joe05].
I managed to get confirmation from 15 of 18 municipalities all
using the same flag model - the coat of arms on a white field
(the colour white carries no symbolism). Upenaviuk is NOT
one of them. The municipality indicated in response to
my question that they do not use a flag.
Jan Oskar Engene, 24 October 2005
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image by Antonio Martins, 11 July 2004