Party symbols in Icelandic elections trace back to Denmark’s tradition

The use of party symbols in elections has a long-standing tradition, primarily originating from Denmark. Until the 20th century, political parties in Iceland did not employ fixed symbols. This practice changed during the 1950s.

In a recent explanation, a historian highlighted that party symbols, identified by letters, were first introduced to elections in Iceland in 1903 for municipal voting. The electoral laws stipulated that candidates be listed with corresponding letters, which would then appear on ballots.

The first instance of these symbols in parliamentary elections was seen in 1915, when legislation formalized the system for national elections. This required candidates to unite and present themselves on a collective list, as opposed to the previous method of single-member or dual-member districts.

Initially, there were significant changes in Icelandic electoral laws in 1934, which established a new system allowing voters to cast ballots for collective national lists rather than individual candidates. Under this system, the party received a letter designation based on alphabetical order.

Over the years, party symbols have not always remained constant. For instance, in the 1942 elections, some parties did not participate, resulting in changes to the letter assignments.

Reforms in 1959 allowed older parties to retain their symbols while providing new parties with letters in alphabetical sequence. The Ministry of Justice has managed the assignment of these symbols since the new election laws of 1987, adapting the system to include requests from political groups and historical designations.

Today, the current laws governing electoral symbols are outlined in legislation from 2006 and further updated in 2021, maintaining consistency with rules established decades ago.