Icelandic flag napkins could violate flag laws

Napkins printed with the Icelandic flag could violate the country’s flag laws, mbl.is reports. Lawyer and Bifröst University law lecturer Arndís Anna K. Gunnarsdóttir says the offence can carry a fine or up to one year in prison.

Some Icelandic shops sell napkins bearing the national flag. Arndís says the product may breach provisions of the flag laws, which were significantly relaxed in 2016 to allow the flag to be used on packaging and in marketing under certain conditions.

The changes allowed the flag to appear on goods, packaging and advertisements provided the product was genuinely made in Iceland or designed in Iceland. If the napkins do not meet those conditions, the Icelandic Consumer Agency could intervene.

Arndís says the more significant issue is that the flag laws clearly prohibit showing disrespect for the Icelandic flag, either in words or actions.

“In this case, we have a product that people inevitably use in a way that leaves the flag soiled, after which it is thrown in the rubbish,” she says. She adds that such a case would fall under the police rather than the Consumer Agency.

Arndís says it is not always clear whether the use of the flag on goods amounts to disrespect. Icelandic shops also sell items such as swimwear decorated with the flag. Some people may consider this belittling the flag, while others may see wearing it as an expression of patriotism.

There are no court rulings directly addressing such cases, she says. Previous cases involving disrespect for national flags have concerned other countries’ flags that people damaged, for example, as a form of protest.

Disrespecting the flag is a criminal offence, Arndís says, but a court would have to consider whether there was an intention to show disrespect if the napkins and their use were examined in court. That would probably determine whether punishment was warranted.

She says flag laws reflect the importance and emotional significance that national flags can have for the public. In Iceland, the laws reflect aspects of national consciousness, national pride and national identity that may be hurt when the flag is treated disrespectfully.