The Sami flag was for the first time raised on August 14
The Sami flag was designed by Astrid Båhl with the initiative of Saami Council. The flag was officially recognized as the national flag of the Sami at the 13th Saami conference in Sweden on August 13-15, 1986 and was raised for the first time on 14 August 2015
"This will improve the self-awareness of the Sami in all of 4 countries of the Barents Region. Thanks to the Sami flag, we can tell the world "Sami people exist, I'm Sami!", told Andrei Danilov, vice president of the Sami Union, deputy chairman of the Kola Peninsula Sami Parliament, chairman of the Sami heritage and development Foundation.
He also noted that in Russia the Sami flag as a unifying symbol of the indigenous people of the Kola Peninsula is leveled.
"And this is confirmed by the fact that the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples the Sami flag was not raised at the venue of the main event in Teriberka (Russia). Only in Lovozero the raising of the flag happened. The Sami is one nation, living in four countries. Through the centuries the Sami people have carried their culture and preserved their identity. And we are here to save for future generations all that is left to us by our ancestors."