The flag of the Kingdom of Heildeyja and Fjærheilja (Holy Fire Island and Far Holy Island)
When the first Norsemen arrived on Heildeyja (OTL Iceland) in the early 9th century AD, they found it already inhabited by a few Irish hermits, whom they called the
Papar. The cohabitation did not last long and by AD870 there were no Christians left on the island. Over the next century, various missionaries visited the island, from Ireland, Scotland and Norway, sometimes singly, sometimes in groups. All of them were forced to leave by the pagan inhabitants, if they were not killed outright.
Then, in AD987,
Áed mac Cellaig arrived. Disdaining the non-confrontational approach used by his predecessors, Áed challenged one of the pagan priests to a test of power, apparently in imitation of Elijah's challenge to the priest of Baal recorded in the Old Testament (
1 Kings 18 vv22-38). According to the
Life of the Blessed Saint Áed (written in the 10th century), he went to the top of one mountain whilst the priest of Odin went to the top of another, accompanied by other priests and many acolytes. Just before dawn, the pagan priests set up an altar for a sacrifice, whilst Áed knelt to pray. As he raised his arms in supplication, '
the power of the Lord of Hosts shook the whole land and the followers of the false gods were consumed by cleansing fire issuing from the heavens and the earth'. The priests of Odin had set up their altar on a volcano, which erupted. Áed, from his vantage point on the neighbouring peak, saw: '
a cross of fire, planted by the Lord God where the unholy men had dared to worship their false gods.'
Encouraged by this sign of God's favour, Áed redoubled his missionary work and was able to convince many chieftains of the power of his God. By the time of his death at the age of 69 in AD1021, the whole population of the island was Christian. There is still a church on the site of the abbey he founded, though nothing remains of the original buildings.
The name of the island was changed from
Ísland (meaning land of ice) to
Heilög Eldeyja (meaning holy fire island). Over time this became shortened/corrupted to its current name of
Heildeyja.
Fjærheilja (OTL Greenland) was first visited by voyagers from Heildeyja only a few decades afterwards. They found a land with fertile shores but with mountains of ice not far inland. The blinding light of the sun reflected from the ice, coupled with story of Áed, still fresh in their minds, inspired them to call the land
Fjær Heilög Eyja (meaning far holy island). As happened with the name of their home island, this became corrupted over time into
Fjærheilja.
Over the next few centuries, 'ownership' of Fjærheilja was disputed amongst the kings of Heildeyja, Denmark and sometimes Norway, but in 1513 the then-king of Heildeyja bought it from the Danish throne, in exchange for the
Suðførroyar (Southern Sheep Islands, OTL Faroe Islands), which had been taken over by the Heildeyjans some hundred years before for non-payment of a dowry. In truth, the Danes viewed Fjærheilja as worthless compared with the Førroyar, the latter being a valuable stopping point for a voyage across the North Atlantic.
The flag of the Kingdom of Heildeyja and Fjærheilja is almost identical to the flag first recorded for just Heildeyja in
The book of all nations from 1271. It celebrates the vision of the fiery cross which Saint Áed saw in the eruption. The black mountain in Heildeyja's original flag, representing the volcano's basalt slopes, was made green, representing the fertile land around the shores of Fjærheilja, and a second shade of blue was added to represent the sea joining the two lands as well as the original light blue representing the sky, or heaven.
Description of the modern flag (dating from 1513)
A red circle bordered with yellow, with red and yellow spreading out horizontally and vertically from the central circle, symbolising the eruption and 'fiery cross' seen by St Áed and representing Heildeyja, sits on top of a green mountain, representing Fjærheilja. Dark blue, symbolising the sea joining the two lands, and light blue, symbolising the sky above them both, are in the background.
View attachment 551667
(Apologies for my mangling of the Icelandic language)
Edit: the backstory has been updated to make this meet the 'Greenland or Faroe Islands' part of the challenge. The flag remains the same.