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Upenavik (Greenland, Denmark)

Kommuneqarfic Upenaviuk

image by Antonio Martins, 10 January 2006

Overview
Decorative Coat of Arms

See also:

Overview

The northern municipality of the West Greenland (called "Kitaa") is Upenaviuk. The official name is "Kommunegarfik Upernaviuk". I found the blazon of the town at www.upernavik.gl where you can find images and information too. The symbol of Upernavik consists of a light blue shield with an orange sun in the centre, and three white and black seals around it.
Fabio Facoetti, 24 July 2003

Photos at www.upernavik.gl show only coat of arms but no flag. Therefore, this reported flag probably don't exist (yet?). For information about the Coat of Arms, see www.ngw.nl.
Dov Gutterman, 10 July 2004

The two images of the Coat of Arms, apart from the color differences, have different rotational symmetry: The original from [ach82] is anti-clockwise and the colored variant is clockwise. Aachen's 1982 book, as quoted in www.ngw.nl, says that the arms were granted in 1973. It says also that "The name means in Greenlandic, the place for the spring catch. In the spring many seals can be found in the waters of this (very large) municipality. The sun indicates the fact that the municipality is high above the polar circle and has several months of continuous daylight."
I think the full-color Coat of Arms is a decorative variation only - see www.upernavik.gl/photo1.html versus www.upernavik.gl/photo5.html.
Photos at www.upernavik.gl imply that a municipal Upernavik municipal flag does not exist, as only the Danish and Greenland national flags are shown in this situation, where a local flag is expectd if it exists.
Antonio Martins, 15 October 2005

I recently researched municipal flags in Greenland by correspondence with municipal authorities in Greenland. The results have just been published in the Fall 2005 issue of Nordisk Flaggkontakt, the journal of the Nordic Flag Society [joe05].
I managed to get confirmation from 15 of 18 municipalities all using the same flag model - the coat of arms on a white field (the colour white carries no symbolism). Upenaviuk is NOT one of them. The municipality indicated in response to my question that they do not use a flag.
Jan Oskar Engene, 24 October 2005

Qaanaaq, Upenaviuq and Uummannaq have merged to form Avannaata Kommunia.
Valentin Poposki, 8 October 2019

Decorative Coat of Arms

image by Antonio Martins, 11 July 2004

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