Flag of Iceland. Swap red and blue and you get the Norwegian flag.
History
Iceland was perhaps first settled by missionaries from Ireland and Scotland around 800 AD, but its official first settlement was in 874 AD by Norseman Ingólfur Arnarson. Many immigrants quickly followed and in 930 Iceland became a commonwealth with its own legislative body named the Althing.
The Icelandic Commonwealth came to an end in 1262, when Iceland became part of the Kingdom of Norway. In 1340 Norway and Denmark became a personal union, and this eventually resulted in Iceland remaining with Denmark in 1814 when Norway joined Sweden in personal union.
An independence movement gained traction in the 19th century, reviving the old Icelandic language over the Danish one. In 1918 Iceland became an independent kingdom in personal union with Denmark. As such King Christian IX was king of two independent countries. During World War 2, ties with Denmark were cut off further when Iceland became a republic in 1944.
Iceland developed rapidly after World War 2, during which it was neutral. It had several conflicts (the Cod Wars) with the UK over fishing grounds in the 1960's, but eventually the United Nations granted a considerable 200 mile zone to Iceland. Disputes over fishing were the main reason Iceland never joined the EEC or EU.
Iceland's economy was booming further in the 2000's, with Icelandic banks undertaking risky investments all over the world. The bubble popped when they were unable to access capital at the height of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, sending the country into a severe financial and monetary crisis. Almost a decade later Iceland has recovered quite well and it is one of the most developed countries in the world.
Currency
Iceland's first banknotes date from the late 19th century, although it was still using the Danish Krone at that time. Following independence in 1918 and the breakdown of the Scandinavian Monetary Union shortly after, the Icelandic Króna became a separate currency. It was divided in 100 Eyrir (singular: Aurar).
The first coin series were minted from 1922 to 1942. As an independent currency, the Króna proved vulnerable and was devalued from 18.15/£ to 27/£ during the interwar years. After World War 2 it entered Bretton-Woods at 6.49Kr/$ but was devalued often. By 1950 the Króna had dropped to 16.26/$ and in 1960 to 43/$. In 1968 the Króna dropped from 57 to 88 per USD in a single year, and would fall further at a rapid pace to 625/$ in 1981.
In 1981 the Króna was replaced by a new one at a rate of 100 to 1, but by 1984 it had fallen to 30Kr/$. It would hover around 60-70/$ for most of the 90's and 2000's, but crashed to 135/$ during the banking crisis of 2008, when capital and exchange rate controls were introduced. The Icelandic Króna was stabilised succesfully and even started appreciating in 2016. It currently trades around 115/$.
Coins
Iceland used Danish currency until 1922. As the distribution of coins into Iceland was not always sufficient, some Icelandic merchants minted trade tokens in the 19th and early 20th century to meet the demand in small change.
The first series of Icelandic coins were minted between 1922 and 1942 and resembled Danish interwar coinage except for the 10 and 25 Eyrir. As Iceland still had the Danish King as head of state, the monogram of Christian X was used on all denominations. In 1946, the first coins of the republic were minted. These were continued in different sizes and compositions up to the 1970's, reflecting the rather large inflation that eroded the purchasing power of these coins.
In 1981 the new Króna coins were introduced with denominations of 5, 10 and 50 Aurar and 1, 5 and 10 Krónur. Inflation led to the smallest coins disappearing and 50 and 100 Krónur added over the years. The 1 Króna coin is currently the smallest that circulates, but its purchasing power is very low.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/islande-1.html
