Why Norwegian flags will be paraded through heart of Kirkwall this weekend

Norway flags will be flying in Kirkwall’s High Street this weekend alongside Scottish Saltires, Union flags and the Orkney flag as the isles county marks Norwegian Constitution Day.

May 17  is a public holiday in the Scandinavian country to celebrate the signing of  its constitution in 1814, establishing its independence and democratic foundations.

In Orkney, the date also celebrates the strong ties and historic links between it and Norway.

Among the most eye-catching events in Orkney’s annual celebration is the Tog parade.

It travels from Kirkwall’s harbour, along the town’s High Street, past the county’s Norwegian Honorary Consulate and on to St Magnus Cathedral.

This Sunday, the parade will begin at 3pm.

Led by the Kirkwall City Pipe Band, the parade includes locals and visitors from Norway flying various flags, with some donning traditional Norwegian dress.

Speeches are held outside the cathedral before a concert takes place inside.

Another major part of the day is a remembrance ceremony at St Olaf’s cemetery at the Norwegian War graves.

This year, the guest of honour is Beate Skretting, the first female mayor of the Norway’s Grimstad municipality.

The founder of St Magnus Cathedral, Earl Rognvald, is thought to have come from the “Grimstad commune”, Orkney Islands Council’s convener Graham Bevan explained ahead of the events.

Why does Orkney celebrate Norwegian Constitution Day?

Mr Bevan will be giving a speech outside the cathedral on Sunday – his fifth time doing so since he became convener.

Asked why Orkney’s ties with Norway remain important he said the celebrations are “very much steeped in history and culture”.

The county’s ties with Norway go back to the late 8th century. In fact Orkney was owned and ruled by Norway for nearly 600 years until 1472.

Mr Bevan said: “It’s like the old story: ‘If you don’t respect your past, how do you know what your future is going to be like?’

“I think that’s part of the willingness to keep these events going.

“To this day, so many Norwegian place names and peoples’ names – Magnus, Erland, Thorfinn, Sigurd – are still strong in Orkney.

“The language has been adopted over many, many hundreds of years.

“The Norwegian constitution day events are a recognition of our past. We’re an islands group steeped in history going back thousands of years.

“We respect that and promote it to show what Orkney is.

“Orcadians remember their roots and celebrate them where we can. It’s a community that values its history.”

‘Orcadians remember their roots and celebrate them where they can’

For over 40 years, the council has a twinning agreement in place, initially with the former county of Hordaland, now the county of Vestland.

With these strong links, the relationship has even been used as a political tool in 2023, when the then-council leader James Stockan proposed alternative forms of governance for Orkney.

While the council supports Kirkwall’s constitution day events, their origins lie with the Orkney Norway Friendship Association.

The association was set up in 1978 to promote links between Orkney. According to its long-running secretary John Mowat, Kirkwall’s first Tog parade was held in the late 70s, with less than 20 participants.

He said around a dozen of these would have been Norwegian sailors, who loaned their flags to the parade.

‘I like to think of it as a mini festival’

He said: “The parade has really developed over the years. I couldn’t be at the first one because I was working,

“But the following year it was on a Saturday and I thought I’d ask the pipe band to get involved.

“It really started to take off. So we thought, why don’t we have a little bit of performance like singing or dancing on the kirk green?

“Given the vagaries of Orkney’s weather, those performances are now held inside.

“So we’ve grown it – I like to call it a one-day mini festival.”

[Source: Press and Journal]