Flakstad is a municipality

Municipalities of Norway

Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties , and 430 municipalities...

 in Nordland

Nordland

is a county in Norway in the North Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Nord-Trøndelag in the south, Norrbottens län in Sweden to the east, Västerbottens län to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The county was formerly known as Nordlandene amt. The county administration is...

 county

Counties of Norway

Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 430 municipalities...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. It is part of the Lofoten

Lofoten

Lofoten is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Though lying within the Arctic Circle, the archipelago experiences one of the world's largest elevated temperature anomalies relative to its high latitude.-Etymology:...

 traditional region

Districts of Norway

The country Norway is historically divided into a number of districts. Many districts have deep historical roots, and only partially coincide with today's administrative units of counties and municipalities. The districts are defined by geographical features, often valleys, mountain ranges, fjords,...

. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ramberg

Ramberg, Flakstad

Ramberg is the administrative centre of Flakstad municipality, in the Lofoten islands, Nordland, Norway. It is located on the island Flakstadøya and has approximately 350 inhabitants,....

. The municipality is located in the Lofoten Islands and comprises the island of Flakstadøya

Flakstadøya

Flakstadøya is an island in Lofoten in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in Flakstad municipality.The island is connected to Moskenesøya in the west by Kåkern Bridge, and to Vestvågøya through the undersea tunnel Nappstraumtunnelen....

 and the eastern part of the island of Moskenesøya

Moskenesøya

Moskenesøya is an island in Lofoten in Nordland county of Norway. The island consists of an agglomeration of glaciated hills with the highest peak at . It is elongated from south-west to north east, is about 40 km long and 10 km wide, and has a very uneven shoreline...

.

Flakstad was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt

Formannskapsdistrikt

Formannskapsdistrikt was the name for a Norwegian local self-government districts put into force in 1838. This system of municipality was created in a bill approved by the Storting and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January 1837...

). Moskenes

Moskenes

Moskenes is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The area of the municipality comprises the southern part of Moskenesøya. It is part of the Lofoten traditional region...

 was separated from Flakstad on 1 July 1916. Later, Flakstad was briefly merged again with Moskenes from 1964-1976 before being separated again.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

) is named after the old Flakstad farm (Norse Flakstaðir), since the first church was built there. The first element could be a Norse nickname (flak 'reckless'), the last element is staðir 'homestead, farm'.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

is from modern times (1989). The arms show a fastening device used on boats as a symbol for the community's seafaring history.