Introduction
Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark and is the largest of the kingdom's three constituent parts by land area, the others being Denmark proper and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenland are citizens of Denmark. They are thus citizens of the European Union, although Greenland is not part of the EU. It is the world's largest island[f] and lies between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It shares a small 1.2-kilometre (0.75 mi) border with Canada on Hans Island. The capital and largest city is Nuuk. Kaffeklubben Island off the northern coast is the world's northernmost undisputed point of land – Cape Morris Jesup on the main island was thought to be so until the 1960s. Economically, Greenland is heavily reliant on aid from Denmark, which has averaged 5.4 billion kr. (€724 million) annually in the period 2019–2023, amounting to more than 20% of the territory's gross domestic product.
About the National Anthem
"Nunarput utoqqarsuanngoravit" (Greenlandic: [nʉnɑpːut‿ʉtɔq:ɑs:uaŋːɔʁavit]; Danish: "Vort ældgamle land", [vɒt ˈelˌkɑmlə lænˀ ɔn⁽ˀ⁾ɐ ˈiˀsˌple̝ŋkn̩s pɑwˀn]; English: "Our Ancient Land") is the national anthem of Greenland, an autonomous state of the Kingdom of Denmark. Written by Henning Jakob Henrik Lund in 1912, it was officially adopted in 1916. Music for it was later composed by Jonathan Petersen in 1937.
Flag Meaning
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Emblem Meaning
The coat of arms of Greenland is a blue shield charged with an upright polar bear. This symbol was first introduced in the coat of arms of Denmark in 1666 and it is still represented in the arms of the Danish royal family. In a Danish context, the bear was originally shown walking naturally, but an upright position was specified in 1819. The 1470 London Roll shows an arms captioned Le Roy de Greneland featuring a shield depicting a polar bear surrounded by three birds. This royal title did not reflect any official title, but merely that the arms could be used by anyone controlling Greenland.
The current coat of arms was designed by Greenlandic artist Jens Rosing and adopted on 1 May 1989 by the Landsting. The polar bear symbolizes the fauna of Greenland and the blue (azure) colour designates the Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean Greenland is washed by. Instead of the Danish version in the royal arms which follows the heraldic tradition in raising the right forepaw, the polar bear on the Greenlandic coat of arms raises the left forepaw, due to the traditional Inuit belief that polar bears are left-handed. A similar arms is used by the official Danish government representative in Greenland. In this case, the bear raises its right paw, and the shield is crowned with the royal crown.
The official Danish specification of the arms does not specify which forepaw is raised, so there is no conflict between the different versions. The adherents of the full independence of Greenland use a green background.
A blazon in heraldic terms is: Azure, a polar bear rampant argent.
The polar bear was first included as a symbol of Greenland in the Danish coat of arms during the reign of King Frederik III of Denmark, but did not gain widespread use on its own until the early 20th century.