Fámjin Church and the Flag

The small wooden church above Fámjin holds the original Faroese flag, sewn in Copenhagen in 1919 and displayed here ever since. The building itself is unremarkable — a typical Faroese village church, tarred timber outside, painted white inside — but the flag and the small graveyard where its designer rests make it one of the islands' more meaningful sites.

The church also holds the Fámjin stone, a runic memorial slab carved with both runes and Latin letters, dated to the late 16th century — making it the only known runestone in the Faroes. It was found by the parish in 1832, set up as a step in the church entrance for decades before its significance was recognised, and is now displayed inside. The church is normally open in summer; in winter ask at the village or call ahead.

things to do sight church history
A story
The flag — Merkið, the white cross with red and blue borders that is now flown across the Faroes — was designed in 1919 by Jens Olivur Lisberg, a student from Fámjin studying veterinary medicine in Copenhagen, together with two friends. The British raised it as the official Faroese flag during World War II when the islands were occupied to keep them out of German hands; Denmark only recognised it after the war. The original cloth, faded and patched, hangs framed behind glass in the church where Lisberg is buried.