The origin of the colourful Greenland houses was in the colonial period of the 1700s when Scandinavia shipped the prefabricated houses in blue, black, yellow, red and green.

Buildings were coloured according to their function and to assist in providing directions, as there were no street names nor house numbers at the time.

While some public buildings still follow the tradition (e.g. hospitals are often still yellow), today people can paint their houses any colour they like.