The History of the Latvian Flag

The history of the Latvian flag is a mix of legend, medieval ambiguity, and the long path that turned a red-white-red idea into a cherished national symbol.

Latvian Flag in the Historical Sources

The origins of the Latvian flag stretch back almost 750 years. The first credible mention appears in just a few lines of the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, describing a clash between the Semigallians and German crusaders in 1279 Cēsis.

Those lines alone could keep a historian busy for a lifetime. The Middle German edition published by Leo Meyer and translated into English by Dr. Ausma Regina Jaunzemis reads: “A brother and a hundred men had come from Wenden to Riga to defend the land, as I have heard. They had been notified. They came in a courtly manner, with a red banner, which was crossed by white, in the manner of the Wends. Wenden is the name of a castle from which this flag became known, and it is located in the land of the Letts, where women ride in the same fashion as men do. I can tell you this in all truth, this is the banner of the Letts.”

As you can see, the chronicle says nothing about the shade of the red, proportions, or even the alignment between the white and red. The German phrase “mit weiss geschnitet” may even have meant several white stripes, according to the research of Tālis Pumpuriņš in his study “Colours of the Latvian Red-White-Red Flag”.

Before we dive into how the modern standard was defined, there’s another part of the story worth pausing on – a popular, beloved, and much-debated origin legend of the Latvian flag.

The Legend of the Latvian Flag

The legend of the Latvian flag is familiar to many. It tells the story of a wounded tribal chief wrapped in a white sheet, his blood staining the fabric’s edges. Before dying from his injuries, he asked his warriors to swear they would defeat the enemy, and the blood-stained cloth is said to have become their battle flag.

Another version speaks of a sacrificed ram and a piper who tore off his white shirt, soaking half of it in the animal’s blood. The section he held remained white, supposedly creating the red-white-red pattern of their victorious banner.

Yet historian Kārlis Dzirkalis urges caution here. In his monograph “The History of the Latvian Flag”, he notes that the legend does not appear in Latvian dainas (folksongs) and questions whether such a vivid tale could realistically survive intact from the 13th century. He suggests it is more likely that an overly enthusiastic historian of a later era created the story, since it was passed on to the Latvian poet Rainis only sometime between the 19th and 20th century. The tale also strikingly resembles the origin story of Austria’s flag. Funnily enough, Austrian historians have also discredited their version of the legend.

The Latvian Flag as We Know It Today

Leap forward to the era of the Latvian National Awakening, when the idea of reviving the red-white-red colours as a national symbol began to surface. Latvian students in Tartu, gathered around Kronvaldu Atis in their literary evenings, may have been the first to debate it. The details are unclear, but the Chronicle-inspired concept steadily gained momentum.

By 1916, it was strong enough to take material form. That year, pedagogue and journalist Jānis Lapiņš sketched his vision of a Latvian flag and asked his pupil, Marianna Strautmane, to sew it. The result – a bright red-white-red flag with a yellow sun in the upper left corner – survives to this day in the Cēsis History and Art Museum.

However, this was only the beginning. Many variations, debates, and historical twists followed. Instead of tracing every turn, we’ll focus on the final steps that shaped the modern Latvian flag.

During the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia on 18 November 1918, the red-white-red colours stood out as an agreed-upon state symbol. Jānis Kuga’s decorated hall, captured in a photograph by Vilis Rīdzenieks, shows the flag as part of the celebration. By the War of Independence (1918–1920), the red-white-red banner had fully become the emblem of the new Latvian state.

Finally, in 1923, the carmine-red colour and proportions were fixed by a law of the Saeima. Today, the exact appearance and use of the flag are governed by the Law on the National Flag of Latvia.

The modern history of the Latvian flag continues to demonstrate the nation’s dedication to this symbol and to the identity and independence it embodies.