Fredrik Meltzer submitted his proposal for a new flag to the Norwegian Parliament on 4 May 1821. He recommended a tricolor of red, white and blue, "three colours that now denote freedom, such as we have seen in the French flag of freedom, and still see in that of the Dutch and Americans, and in the Union of the English". The eventual choice a few days later of a Nordic cross was clearly based on the tradition established by the other Nordic countries, Denmark and Sweden.