Every nation's national flag is an important and meaningful symbol.
Every flag has a different history, and their colors and patterns are
culturally significant.
Finland has a flag with a blue cross on a white background. This paper
studies the history and meaning of this "Blue Cross Flag" and the
evolution of flag culture in Finland. What are the origins of the current
Finnish national flag? What other flags have previously been used in
Finland? How is the national flag used in modern-day Finland?
Origins of the Finnish Flag
Flags of Finland before Independence: What Are the True Colors of
Finland?
Before 1918, one year after Finnish Independence in 1917, Finland did
not officially have a flag of its own. During the Swedish Rule (c.
1150.1809)1, the official flag of Finland
was the Flag of Sweden. Subsequently, the Flag of Russia was used in
Finland, after Finland became an autonomous part of Russia in 1809
(Suomen). However, there were special national flags used in Finland even
before the nation became independent.
When Finland was given the status of a Grand Duchy under Swedish Rule
in 1581, it also got a Coat of Arms, a crowned, yellow lion on a red field
(Savolainen). This Coat of Arms is the oldest symbol of Finland. Its
origin is largely unknown, but the lion is a common heraldic animal
(Matikkala 190). The Coat of Arms was used as an unofficial flag in the
Grand Duchy of Finland. As a result, red and yellow acquired a certain
status of national colors (Suomen). In addition to that, a color
combination of blue and white could be seen in many emblems, for example
in the coats of arms of provinces, and flags of cities and the military.
But all in all, not much is known about these flags of the era of Swedish
Rule (Hulkko 9). The history of an actual Finnish Flag dates back to the
middle 1800s, when Finland was under Russian Rule (Kajanti 96).
In the beginning of the 1800s, flags were rarely used in Finland, but
the mid-1800s marks an important period in the history of Finnish
flags. In the 1850s and 1860s, there was the first public discussion on
whether Finland should have a flag of its own. The issue was mainly
discussed in the press (Hulkko 10). One of the reasons why the need for a
Finnish flag increased was the Crimean War2 in the Baltic Sea. Many Finnish ships were
attacked because they sailed under the Russian merchant flag. There were
writings in the newspapers that demanded a separate merchant flag for
Finland (Kajanti 110).
Furthermore, the nationalistic Fennoman movement3, which championed the status of Finnish
language4 and culture among other things,
evoked the call for a national flag of Finland (Vahtola 262). In 1863, the
Diet of Finland5 was summoned for the
first time in 50 years, and in 1860 Finland adopted its own currency unit,
the finmark, while the Russian ruble had been used in Finland before that.
This affirmed the idea of the special status of Finland under Russian
Rule, both nationally and politically. For Finland to adopt its own
national flag would have supported this idea, as well.
The most hectic years of the flag debate were 1862 and 1863 (Klinge
29-31). Several flag drawings and articles were published in newspapers.
Blue and white were regarded as the national colors of Finland in many of
these (Suomen). They were considered by many cultural and political
figures to be a more beautiful and harmonic color combination than red and
yellow. Blue and white were also said to reflect the Finnish nature and
its lakes, ice and snow. However, some regarded red and yellow, the colors
of the Coat of Arms of Finland, as the real national colors (Kajanti 125).
After all, it was a common practice that the colors of a Coat of Arms of a
country would also be the national colors. The connotation of red with
revolution and socialism was hardly seen. This was not yet relevant in
Finland (Klinge 44).
There was also another good reason to insist that the Finnish Flag
should be similar to the Coat of Arms. The first reported use of a flag
that was made especially for Finland occurred at a student spring festival
near Helsinki in 1848. There the Helsinki University Student Union
displayed a flag that had the Coat of Arms of Finland on a white field,
surrounded with laurel leaves. At the same festival, the Finnish national
anthem, Maamme [Our land], was performed for the first time
(Kajanti 99-101). Actually, this was the event that inspired several
political and cultural figures to suggest that Finland should have a
national flag of its own (Suomen).
The story of how blue and white came to be known as the Finnish
national colors is interesting. The most common and simple explanation is
that the colors come from the white snow and blue lakes of Finland.
However, this seems a slightly-too-naive explanation. There are snow and
lakes in other countries than Finland, too.
It was the Fennomans who campaigned for blue and white as the Finnish
national colors. Political loyalism, which meant recognizing the power of
the Tsar in Finland and emphasizing the importance of being loyal to him,
was typical of the Fennomans, and this was one of the reasons why they
favored blue and white. Blue and white were also the colors of the Russian
naval ensign and merchant flag. Therefore, a blue and white flag would not
differ too much from these: the Fennomans thought that Finland should be
loyal to Russia even in the flag issue.
It has been stated that the colors and design of the flag drawings of
the 1800s, as well as those of the current Finnish flag, may be traced to
the Russian naval ensign. It had a blue, slant cross on a white
background. The cross in question was St. Andrew's Cross, St. Andrew being
the patron saint of Russia. This connection had originated from a poem by
Zacharias Topelius, the famous Finnish historian, storyteller and
journalist, who was also a Fennoman. The poem was written for two Finnish
troop units that were about to join the Crimean War. The ships of the
troop units were sailing under the Russian naval ensign that has been
described above. But in his poem, Topelius wrote that the St. Andrew's
Cross flag was now, in fact, the Finnish flag, too (Klinge 14-15, 42-45).
Topelius contributed greatly to the flag conversation. In his Swedish
poem Finlands flagga [The Finnish Flag], he objected to red and
yellow. In his opinion, red referred to blood, and yellow was a pale
color. According to Topelius, the suitable colors for Finland would be the
blue of the seas and the white of the sails and purity. In 1863, he drew a
white flag with a slanted, blue stripe from the top left corner to the
bottom right corner, with the two other corners being blue. In the middle
of the blue stripe, there was a white star (Klinge 9, 31-32).
Blue and white were mainly the symbol of the pro-Finnish Fennomans. The
Swedish-speaking people and the Svecomans6
wanted to separate themselves from the Fennomans, and thus supported red
and yellow. It was also worth noting that the colors of the flag drawings
reflected how far the group behind the drawing wanted to disengage from
Russia. The Swedish-speaking population and the Svecomans were often more
liberal than the Fennomans and felt that it was not necessary that the
flag of Finland would resemble the Russian flags. To demonstrate this, the
pro-Swedish newspaper Helsingfors Dagblad [Helsinki Daily] and the
circle of liberal people around it draw a flag that differed the most from
the Russian flags. It had a blue cross on a red background, and another
yellow cross on top of the blue cross.
However, a young academic, Otto Donner, who had also made his mark in
the flag debate, objected to this flag. He stated that it had too many
colors in it, it did not resemble the Coat of Arms of Finland, and it
looked too similar to the flags of the Scandinavian countries7. In his opinion, it would be inappropriate
to propose a too Scandinavian-like flag to the Russian Emperor, because
Russia wanted to cut all ties between Finland and Sweden and the other
Scandinavian countries, now that Finland was a part of Russia. Donner
himself compromised and designed a flag that was almost similar to
Topelius. drawing, but did not have the star; also, two of its corners
were red. It could be said that while Topelius. flag was a Finnish version
of the blue and white naval ensign of the Russian Empire, Donner's flag
was a Finnish version of the white, blue and red merchant flag of the
merchant flag of the Russian Empire, under which the Finnish ships had
also been sailing. In addition, Helsingfors Dagblad published new versions
of their flag drawings, and other newspapers published other drawings
(Klinge 31-32, 42-44).
However, none of the proposed flags was introduced to the Diet of
Finland, who could have legislated on the national flag of Finland. So,
Finland remained without an official national flag, but unofficially, many
different flags were used in parallel (Savolainen). In the late 1800s,
many of the flag drawings were used in villas and summer houses. Since
blue and white were present in many of the flag drawings, they became the
main colors of the flags and pennants of the Finnish yacht clubs (Suomen).
The 20th Century and Finnish Independence: The Flag Becomes
Necessary
In 1912, an interesting flag-related episode took place. The flag issue
came up once again when the Olympic Games were held in Stockholm, Sweden.
For the first time, Finland was allowed to send its own Olympic team, even
though Finland was still a part of Russia. A question arose: if Finland
won some competition, which flag would be raised in the prize-giving
ceremony? Even the organizers of the Olympics were not sure.
An exceptional incident occurred in the opening of the Olympics. The
Finnish team had had to march after the Russian team, without its own
flag. To demonstrate their independence from the Russian team, the Finns
dropped back and took whatever Finnish flag they could get from someone
who was watching the opening. It happened to be the flag of a Finnish
women's gymnastic club. The Russians disapproved of this. They did not
like that Finland, which was only a Grand Duchy of Russia and not an
independent nation, separated itself from the Russians this way. They
ordered the Finns to stop carrying the flag. The Finns had no choice but
to obey, and into the stadium they walked without a flag.
Later, in the preliminary round of soccer, Finland played against
Russia and won. Normally, only the national flag of the winner team would
have been raised after the game, but in this case, the teams actually had
the same national flag. So, the Russian Flag was raised, and but under it
there was a banner saying "Finland won" to make it clear which team had
won. Then a Finnish athlete won a shooting competition, and this time a
red and yellow lion flag was raised, with the Russian Flag beneath it.
After the javelin competition, which Finland had won, only a blue and
white banner, with the text "Finland", was raised.
These cases did not please the Russians. Especially the last one, where
only the banner was raised, emphasized the independence of Finland too
much from the point of view of Russia. Therefore, the organizers
standardized the practice, and later, when a Finn won in these Olympics,
the Russian Flag was raised, with the "Finland" banner placed under it
(Noronen).
Only five years later, Finland was disengaging itself from Russia, and
the question of a national flag became timely again. In 1914-1918, the
First World War raged throughout Europe. Due to the war, Russia was
temporarily weak, and partly because of that, Finland gained independence
in 1917. Russia's difficulties in the war, massive casualties, a lack of
food and firewood, and the agitation of different groups led to the
Russian Revolution in March 1917. The Tsar Nicholas II and the House of
Romanov were dethroned, and, thus, Finland lost its Grand Duke. A
Provisional Government replaced the Tsar (Vahtola 284-286).
During the spring, the Bolsheviks and V.I. Lenin as their leader gained
more and more power in Russia. In the fall, the October Revolution broke
out, and the Provisional Government was replaced by the Bolshevist
government. On 6 December, Finland declared independence, and before the
end of 1917, Lenin and the Bolsheviks recognized Finland's independence
(Jussila, Hentilä, and Nevakivi 91-92, 97).
Due to this social and political ferment in Russia, and the new status
of Finland, the need for symbols was emphasized in Finland. People wanted
to demonstrate the secession from Russia, and that could be done with
national symbols. The flag issue was again discussed in the press. Now,
the red and yellow colors and the lion flag became dominant, since they
symbolized freedom, change and Finland's separation from Russia because
they differed from the blue and white flags of Russia.
Basically, the lion flag was an official flag that public buildings,
such as city halls, used on special events. But among private persons, a
kind of flag chaos reigned. There was a sudden need to raise the flag and
demonstrate because the situation had changed and Russia apparently no
longer ruled Finland (Klinge 53, 56). The situation in 1917 was described
by Joel Lehtonen, a contemporary Finnish novelist, as follows: "Public
buildings were flying the lion flag, and on the roofs of private citizens,
there were those new flags. Some of them were blue-and-white-striped as
the Greek Flag, but most were red and yellow, although some were
yellow-striped as the Spanish Flag, and there were also some Swedish
Flags"8 (in Hulkko 11).
In October 1917, the October Revolution broke out, and cut all
political ties between Finland and Russia. This meant a change in the flag
issue, as well. The tricolor merchant flag of Russia had maintained its
status even after the March Revolution, but due to the October Revolution,
that flag made way for the red flag (Klinge 56). Therefore, in December,
the Finnish Senate9 appointed a flag
committee to draw a flag for Finland. Members of the committee were Lars
Krogius, a counselor of commerce; Eliel Saarinen, an architect; and Uuno
T. Sirelius, a Doctor of Philosophy (Kajanti 193). The committee suggested
the Finnish state flag should be the red lion flag, with the Finnish lion
on a dark red background, so it would be similar to the Coat of Arms of
Finland (Savolainen). Their suggestion for the merchant flag was red cloth
with a yellow cross and nine white roses in its left upper corner (Klinge
57).
The committee felt that they had to choose the traditional, heraldic
colors of the lion coat of arms: red, yellow and white. In addition, the
committee found it important that the Finnish flag would bear a
resemblance to the flags of the other Nordic countries. Therefore, the
committee put the yellow cross on the merchant flag, as there were also
similar upright crosses in the flags of Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The
Senate of Finland accepted the lion flag as the Finnish state flag
(Kajanti 193-194). However, the Senate wanted to add the blue and white
colors at least to the merchant flag. So, the Senate decided that the
Finnish merchant flag would be a red and yellow cross flag with tiny blue
and white stripes surrounding the cross (Klinge 57-58).
The Senate then introduced these two flags to the Parliament10. The flags suggested by the Senate evoked
a heated debate in the Parliament. However, the Parliament did not accept
the presented flags. Many of the Parliament members insisted that blue and
white should be represented in the Finnish state flag. Despite that, on 27
February 1918, the Senate declared the lion flag to the temporary Finnish
state flag, and the red and yellow cross flag with a tiny blue and white
stripe between the red and the yellow was declared to the temporary
Finnish merchant flag (Klinge 57-58).
The Civil War and After: Red Falls from Favor
In the winter and spring of 1918, the flag became a secondary issue in
Finland. In Finnish history, the year 1918 is notorious for an
exceptionally tragic event: the Finnish Civil War. One of the main reasons
of the war was that there were many social and economic problems, such as
unemployment and a lack of food, among the Finnish working class. Many
people were even starving, which resulted in unease and strikes. That
increased the tension between the working class and the upper class.
Finally, the working class became radicalized; it adopted socialism and
rose up against the prevailing law and order.
The example of the Russian Revolution inspired the Finnish working
class as well. Since Russian Rule in Finland had recently come to an end,
and Finland did not have its own army, there was a power vacuum in the
country. Therefore, both the non-socialists and the working class founded
their own guards to keep order. The non-socialists were worried about the
agitation and socialistic thoughts among the working class, and the
strikes alarmed them as well. So, the non-socialists founded paramilitary
police units known as the Civil Guards. At the same time, the working
class was organizing their so-called Red Guards. The working class people,
who took part in the war, came to be known as the Reds, and the
non-socialists as the Whites.
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The frontline in the beginning of the Civil War. The red section
indicates the area held by the Reds, while the blue area was occupied by
the Whites. [The text indicating the location of Ostrobothnia has been
added by the author.]
Image source: Wikimedia
Commons
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The conservative Finnish Senate was concerned about the radicalizing
working class as well, especially because there was not an army in
Finland. Thus, the Civil Guards were anointed as the guards of the Senate,
which made the Red Guards illegal and provoked the Reds to a revolution.
The revolution by the Reds broke out in Helsinki on 28 January 1918. Soon,
Southern Finland was occupied by the Reds, while the Whites were holding
the northern regions, with Ostrobothnia as their most important power
base. There were also some Russians fighting with the Reds.
However, the Whites were more capable of organized fighting and
eventually defeated the Reds. In April, the Whites captured Helsinki from
the Reds, and it was clear that the Whites would win the short but bloody
war. Over 36,000 people died, 10,000 of them in the actual battles, but
almost the same number died because of White and Red terror. Terror meant
violence outside the actual battles, such as military executions and
murders. About 13,000 Reds died in the prison camps where they were put
after the war.
As the Whites, the non-socialists, had defeated the socialistic Reds,
Finnish society after the civil war was somewhat "white": the former
Whites held the important state offices, and all leftists were strictly
controlled. The victorious party also considered the Civil War to have
been an illegal rebellion by the Reds. For a long time, it was officially
called the "War of Independence" because the Whites saw they had
guaranteed the Finnish independence that the Reds had threatened (Kohi,
Palo, Päivärinta, and Vihervä 56-61, 74).
The Civil War was being waged when the flag issue was discussed by the
Parliament, the Senate, and the flag committee appointed by the Senate.
When the Senate had decreed the temporary flags, during the state of war
the news probably did not reach all the citizens. But after the war, the
red color of the lion flag was now seen differently. It reminded many
people of the symbols of the Reds and socialism. The Reds had worn red
armbands during the Civil War. Thus the red flag no longer seemed suitable
for Finland.
When the Finnish Parliament gathered after the Civil War, several
Members of Parliament committed themselves on the matter. Mr. Antti
Juutilainen, a Member of Parliament at the time, summed the situation up:
"The colors of the flag must be blue and white. Red is the color of the
Red Guards." Another Member of Parliament, Mr. Santeri Alkio, said in a
plenary: "In any case, it would be nothing but bloody irony if the first
official flag of Finland was red, as the Finnish people had to bow to red
flags during the Red Rebellion."11 After
the tragedy of 1918, it was obvious that the Finnish Flag could not be red
(Klinge 58-59).
It was clear that the official Finnish flag would have a cross in it
because Christianity was an important part of the values of the Whites. In
addition, there had been a cross in most of the earlier flag propositions
of the 19th century. A cross in the flag would also mean commitment to the
Scandinavian flag tradition, and a Scandinavian type of cross would
emphasize the fact that Finland had separated from Russia and was now one
of the Scandinavian countries. Still, some wanted to somehow add the red
and yellow to the flag (Klinge 59).
A common opinion was that the upper corner on the side of the flagpole
should be red and yellow. In fact, this was the proposal of the Committee
for the Constitutional Law for the Finnish Flag, to whom the flag issue
had been delegated. On 24 May, this proposal, the blue cross flag with a
red and yellow corner, came to parliamentary reading. Before that, the
proposal had been shown to the famous Finnish artist Akseli
Gallen-Kallela, and he had considered it "absolutely horrible". The
opinions in the Parliament did not greatly differ from this. The flag was
said to be bad and ugly, and it was not accepted as the Finnish Flag
(Kajanti 209-216). Kallen-Gallela himself suggested a flag that had a
white cross on a blue background, and this suggestion was discussed in the
Parliament, as well. However, it was not approved because it could have
been confused with the Swedish flag, which had a yellow cross on a blue
background. It was also too similar to the unofficial flag of Iceland
(Savolainen).
Despite the recent Civil War, the Swedish-speaking members of
Parliament advocated the red lion flag as the Finnish flag, as they had
done in the 1800s. They argued that it had been used even before
Independence, and red and yellow were still the colors of the Coat of
Arms. Blue and white also reminded them of the Fennoman movement, which
had championed the Finnish language over the Swedish language.
Finally, when none of the proposed flags passed in the Parliament, the
artists Eero Snellman and Bruno Tuukkanen were appointed to design the
flag. They suggested that the state flag would be a blue cross on a white
background, with the Coat of Arms of Finland in the middle of the cross.
The merchant flag and naval ensign would be only the blue cross flag
without the Coat of Arms.The Committee for Constitutional Law accepted
this suggestion (Savolainen). Then the flags were presented to the
Parliament of Finland, which accepted them by common consent. The next
day, the Senate ratified this act. It was worth noting that there was no
mention at this time about a national flag; rather the merchant flag and
naval ensign were used from the beginning as national flags that even
private citizens were allowed to raise (Kajanti 224-229).
The Evolution of Flag Culture in Independent Finland
Now that Finland had an official flag, the state institutions, defence
forces and ships took the new flag into use. However, it was not
self-evident that raising the flag would come common among private
persons. Formerly, the flag culture of Finland had been limited to using
private flags in private villas (Klinge 63). At first, many Finns did not
seem to become interested in the new flag of their country. In fact, not
every citizen even knew what the flag looked like. Thus, a civic
organization, called Itsenäisyyden liitto [Union of Independence],
founded in 1924, took on the task of publicizing the flag. Its goals were
to strengthen Finnish independence and unite the Finnish people. The
organization advocated the flag both ideologically and practically. On one
hand, it spread information about the symbolic background of the flag
(Kajanti 246-248). On the other hand, the organization supplied flags to
all parts of the country and counseled people on how to use the flag
properly.
The official days on which the flag should be raised were a subject for
many conversations during the 1920s. This was connected to the general
conversation about national holidays (Klinge 63-64). The Itsenäisyyden
liitto organization eagerly campaigned for adopting a festival of the
Finnish Flag (Kajanti 250). This effort was successful, and it was decreed
that Midsummer Day would also be celebrated as the Day of the Finnish
Flag.
The Finnish elementary schools also played an important role in
increasing the awareness of the new Finnish national identity, and thus,
acquainted pupils with the flag, too. Gradually, the awareness of the flag
as a national symbol began to grow in Finland.
Even though Finland got its own official flag only after Independence,
raising the flag became common even earlier than in many other countries,
such as in Denmark and Sweden. Both in Finland and Sweden, the flag and
its usage seemed to be connected with summer, which is probably due to the
climate. So among private persons the flag was mainly used in summer
houses. In farmhouses, the custom became common much more slowly.
As discussed earlier in the paper, the Blue Cross Flag had a
connotation of the victorious party of the Civil War. Since Finland now
belonged to the Whites, it could also be seen in the national symbols. The
Parliament of Finland that decided on the Finnish Flag in 1918 was
short-handed. Of the 92 Social Democratic members of Parliament, 40 had
escaped to Russia and 50 had been arrested, due to their actions for the
Reds. This emphasizes the fact that the Finnish Flag was, to some extent,
a symbol of the Whites. However, many of the socialists had supported the
blue and white before the Civil War (Klinge 63-68).
As described above, the Finnish working class had not had the chance to
contribute to the flag issue, with the Social Democrats absent from the
Parliament in May 1918. In January 1918, the Social Democrats had
supported the red and yellow flag. Therefore, the chances of the working
class to adopt the blue and white flag were not optimal. On one hand, the
flag reminded them of the Civil War and the bloody conquest of the Reds by
the Whites. On the other hand, the red color, which was important to the
Finnish working class, had been left out of the flag. Thus, the Social
Democrats. attachment to the new flag turned out to be problematic. The
party realized the importance of the national symbols, but in social
democratic thought internationality was often emphasized more than
national identity. Furthermore, the working class was used to having its
own red flags. Even though those flags and the labor movement had fallen
from favor because of the Civil War, the red flags of the labor movement
were allowed to be used fairly soon after the Civil War.
At first, only the red flags were used in the gatherings of the
workers' associations. Then, in 1927, the leaders of the Social Democrats
decided that the Finnish Flag could be used in the events of the Social
Democratic Party. The leftist newspapers took an even more positive
attitude to the national flag. The social democratic newspaper Kansan
lehti [People's journal], spoke out for the Finnish Flag in 1928:
It
may be true that the shape and color of the flag might be different if we
had had leverage in the Parliament when the decision concerning the flag
was made. But there is nothing we can do about it now . . . The working
class has by no means reason to avoid these festivals [the flag-raising
days], but it should instead be a leading supporter in them . . . 12
Yet the commemorations of the end of the Civil War in May remained
somewhat disconcerting to the labor movement. The placement of the Flag
Day of the Finnish Defense Forces on the 16th of May did not please the
labor movement. But all in all, the Finnish Flag gradually became the
symbol of the whole nation (Kajanti, Suomen 524-525).
The civic organization Itsenäisyyden liitto [Union of
Independence], which had campaigned for the Finnish Flag, was closed down
in 1944. The Association of Finnish Culture and Identity continued its
work. Moreover, the Heraldry Society of Finland was founded to cherish and
develop the Finnish heraldic culture. The society has been active in the
field of flag heraldry, as well as that of the coat of arms.
From the historical point of view, the blue and white colors of the
flag originate from the colors of Russian Empire. But there is more to the
history of the colors than that. In Finland, the attempted revolution by
the Reds failed, and Finland maintained its existing social system. Thus,
it was the only part of the former Russian Empire to stay non-socialist
and non-red. Even though the most obvious feature of the flag is the cross
that is a part of the Scandinavian flag tradition, there is also the
connection to Russian Rule and the Russian navy ensign (Klinge 63-70). By
the 1980s, it can be said that the nation and even every citizen has
adopted the Finnish Flag. The flag is raised on the official and
established flag-raising days, and also for family and other celebrations.
In Finland, raising the flag has become a highly common custom even among
private citizens (Kajanti, Suomen 539).
Current Usage of the Finnish Flag
The Four Different Types of Finnish Flags
The Finnish Flag has four variants. To begin with, there is a
distinction between the national flag and the state flag. The national
flag is the most common one, and the one used by private citizens. The
difference between these two flags is that the state flag has the Lion
Coat of Arms in the middle of the blue cross while the national flag does
not.
This differs from most countries of the world, which usually have
only one flag that every citizen has an equal right to use (Kajanti 286).
Finnish law strictly defines the state authorities that are allowed to
use the state flag. They are the Parliament, ministries and their
administrations, Supreme Court, Supreme Administrative Court, Courts of
Appeal, local administrations, Centres for Economic Development, Transport
and the Environment, diplomats, consulates, and embassies of Finland
abroad, the Bank of Finland, Social Insurance Institution, Academy of
Finland, public universities, Border Guards and Finnish ships (Laki).
In addition, the law distinguishes the swallow-tailed state flag from
the oblong state flag. The swallow-tailed state flag can only be used by
the staffs, units, departments and ships of the Finnish Defence Forces.
Finally, the President of the Republic of Finland uses the swallow-tailed
state flag with a blue-and-yellow Cross of Liberty13 in its upper corner that is closer to the
mast (Kajanti 286).
Legislation and Finnish Flag Etiquette
The Finns have always viewed their flag with devotion and respect. The
base of the flag legislation has been that the Finnish Flag has to be
respected, and it is illegal to dishonor or abuse the flag. When Finland
officially took the national flag into use, the flag legislation was
largely copied from neighbor countries, and the Finnish flag culture has
been relatively similar to that of the Scandinavian countries. Nowadays,
flying the flag can be seen as joyful, and the Finns are allowed to use
the flag freely (Kajanti 285). Private citizens, corporations, and
communities can raise the flag on other days than the official or
established flag-raising days. This can be done to display celebration,
for example on birthdays or anniversaries, as well as sorrow when someone
has passed away (Liputtaminen).
In this matter, there are differences between different countries. In
Eastern Europe, the flags have traditionally been more "sacred". In these
countries the use of the flag has been limited mainly to official
occasions and festivals. Even today, it is not allowed to use the flag
freely in every country. For example, in Kuwait, it is illegal for a
private citizen to raise the flag on a day that is not an official
flag-raising day.
In Great Britain and the United States, on the other hand, it is
acceptable to use the flag image in dishes, logos, advertisements or
artworks. The flag can be printed in t-shirts, sheets and other products,
and there will be no need to fear an accusation (Kajanti 285). In Finland,
however, one has to apply for permission to use the Finnish flag in a
trademark from the Finnish Ministry of the Interior. The applicant has to
argue why he or she wants to use the national emblem in a private
trademark. The Ministry considers whether the reasons justify the use of
the flag in a trademark, and will grant the permission or not. The mark
also has to fulfill the heraldic requirements and must not be unethical
(Suomen lipun).
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The Key Flag.
Image source: TVO
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An example of using the Finnish flag in products is the Key Flag. It is
a small logo printed on Finnish products and services to promote their
Finnish origin. The Key Flag is granted by the Association for Finnish
Work, who also supervises its usage. It is a highly well-known logo, and
recognized by almost every Finn (Avainlippu). Yet the Key Flag can
sometimes mislead consumers, because sometimes the product is only made or
assembled in Finland, whereas its raw material has come from abroad
(Alkuperämerkinnät).
The present Law of the Flag, dating to 1978, includes preservation
orders concerning the flag. They were not included in the former law of
the flag. The law of 1978 defines the flag abstractly. This means that if
there is, for example, a sticker that fulfills the dimension and color
requirements of the Finnish Flag, it should be treated the same way as the
actual Finnish Flag. In addition to that, the law specifies that it is not
allowed to add any patterns or decorations to the flag, or sell flags that
differ from the dimension and color requirements (Kajanti 286).
The Association of Finnish Culture states that, according to the law of
the flag, it is punishable to publicly damage, disrespect, or —
without permission — remove the Finnish Flag from a flagpole.
Furthermore, it is illegal to sell Finnish Flags that differ from the
official Finnish Flag in respect of colors or dimensions, whether it is a
flag or a sticker.
A torn flag can be mended, but after that, it can only be used if the
mend is not visible. The current Finnish Flags are made of synthetic
fiber, and thus, they normally are resistant to the harsh climate of
Finland. However, the flag often gets dirty, and it may be washed. Washing
and ironing instructions are usually enclosed with the Flag. The Finnish
Flag is always dried indoors. The white parts of the Finnish Flag easily
yellow, or the blue cross may fade. When this happens or when the flag is
otherwise too old and worn-out to be used, it must be disposed of
appropriately. This can be done by burning or by cutting the flag into
small pieces and disposing of it along with household waste, for example.
What is important is that the flag should not be recognizable by the
pieces. The flag must also not be buried or thrown into the sea (Lippu).
Throughout the world, there are different ways to salute with a flag when
it is being carried on a flagstaff. In Finland, the main rule concerning
the flag salute is that the flag must not touch the ground, however the
salute is done. This differs substantially from some countries, where the
salute is done by sweeping the ground with the flag. But in Finland, the
flag salute is usually done by tilting the flag forward to a 45 degree
angle. This differs from most counties, since their practice is to lower
the flagstaff to a horizontal position. The Finnish "carrying flags" have,
however, traditionally been so large that lowering the flagstaff to a
horizontal position would not be possible, without touching the ground
with the flag.
The President of the Republic of Finland and heads of foreign states
are saluted with the Finnish Flag. The salute with the flag may also take
place when the national anthem of Finland or a foreign state is being
played or sung, when a funeral procession goes by, and when the deceased
is being blessed and buried (Kajanti 305-306).
Official and Established Flag-raising Days
Every Finnish citizen has the right to raise the national flag anytime
and anywhere inside the Finnish borders, but they do not have a
responsibility to do so, even on the official flag-raising days.
Conversely, state administrations do have the responsibility to raise the
flag on the official flag-raising days.
When is the Finnish Flag raised, then? Probably the most obvious days
are the official flag-raising days. The number of official flag-raising
days varies a lot between different countries. For example, Denmark has
the most official flag-raising days of the Nordic countries, the number
being 16 (Kajanti 286-287, 301). In Finland, there are six official
flag-raising days. In addition to them, there are days on which raising
the flag is an established custom. On the official flag-raising days, the
state administrations have the responsibility to fly the flag. The six
annual official flag-raising days that have been ordered by the act
concerning the raising of the Finnish flag are as follows:
- 28 February, Kalevala day; also celebrated as the day of Finnish
Culture
- The 1st Day of May, Labor Day
- The Second Sunday in May, Mother's Day
- 4 June, birthday of C. G. E. Mannerheim, Marshal of Finland; also
celebrated as the Flag Day of Finnish Defence Forces
- Saturday between 20 and 26 June, Midsummer Day; also celebrated as
the Day of the Finnish Flag
- 6 December, Independence Day (Kajanti 301).
In addition, the parliamentary election days and the day of
presidential inauguration are official flag-raising days (Liputuspäivät).
The Association of Finnish Culture and Identity recommends raising the
flag on municipal and presidential election days, too.
In addition to the official flag-raising days, many cultures have
so-called "established", national flag-raising days. In Finland, there are
eleven days on which flying the Finnish flag is an established custom. It
is recommended that the Finnish flag is raised on those days in the same
way as on those ordered by law (Kajanti 301). These days are:
- 5 February, birthday of the poet J.L. Runeberg
- 19 March, birthday of the writer Minna Canth, Day of Equality
- 9 April, the day Mikael Agricola, the founder of the written
Finnish language died and Elias Lönnrot, a collector of folklore, was
born; the occasion is also celebrated as the Day of the Finnish Language
- 27 April, National War Veterans' Day
- 12 May, birthday of the statesman J.V. Snellman
- Third Sunday in May, Remembrance Day
- 6 July, birthday of the poet Eino Leino; the occasion is also a
celebration of poetry and summer
- 10 October, birthday of the writer Aleksis Kivi; the occasion is
also celebrated as the Day of Finnish Literature
- 24 October, United Nations Day
- 6 November, svenska dagen, Finnish Swedish Heritage Day
- Second Sunday in November, Fathers' Day (Liputuspäivät)
For the times when the flag should be raised and lowered, the most
common convention is to raise the flag at dawn and lower it at sundown.
This is also the custom in Finland. But the length of the day varies
between different areas and different seasons; for example, the sun does
not set at all in some summer nights in Finland. So the times of the
flag-raising are usually qualified as certain A.M. and P.M. times. In
Finland, the official flag-raising begins at 8 A.M and ends at sundown,
but not later than 9 P.M. As a Finnish peculiarity, the flag is raised on
Midsummer's Eve at 6 P.M. and lowered on Midsummer's Day on 9 P.M. This
reflects the fact that darkness does not come to any part of Finland
during the Midsummer's night (Kajanti 302).
Raising the flag is supervised by the Ministry of the Interior of
Finland. The Association of Finnish Culture and Identity advises the
citizens in practical details of flag-raising. The Association also sells
both Finnish Flags and the flags of foreign countries (Lippu).
The Finnish Flag: Past and Present
Even though Finland officially adopted its flag after becoming
independent, the flag evoked debates even before that. Due to the
awakening nationalism, the flag issue was heatedly discussed in the press
in the middle 1800s. The colors of the flag were a common bone of
contention. As the colors of the Finnish Coat of Arms, some favored red
and yellow. Blue and white were also popular: they were considered to
reflect the Finnish nature, and also look more harmonic than red and
yellow. To a great extent, these color combinations were also related to
the bilingualism in Finland: many Swedish-speaking people supported red
and yellow, while the Finnish-speaking people often favored blue and
white. As a result of this flag discussion, different, unofficial flags
were used in the late 1800s and early 1900s, before Finland became
independent.
Having gained independence in 1917, Finland now needed its own,
official flag. A red lion flag was declared to be the temporary state flag
of Finland by the Senate. However, the Civil War between the Reds and the
Whites in 1918 changed the attitudes towards the red flag: it was now
associated with socialism and rebellion. Therefore, the white flag with
the blue cross was adopted as the Finnish Flag, symbolizing the snow and
lakes and also the victory of the Whites. Overall, the Finnish Flag and
its precursors have an exceptionally eventful history that is closely
connected to the history of the entire nation.
Nowadays, flag etiquette is rather permissive in Finland. Even private
citizens are allowed to raise the flag whenever they want. However, there
are some rules concerning the use of the Flag: the main principle is that
the flag should be respected and treated properly. Finns have always done
so, and raising the flag has become customary, both on official
flag-raising days and for other celebrations.
Notes
- The era of Swedish Rule lasted from c. 1150 to 1809. Sweden
gradually established its power in Finland, which was largely due to the
wave of crusades that began in 1095. However, the concept of Finland as a
coherent area did not exist. It was only an eastern territory of Sweden.
In 1809, as a result of the Finnish War between Sweden and Russia, the
eastern third of Sweden, that is Finland, was established as a part of
Russia.
- The Crimean War (1853-1856) was fought between the Russian Empire
on one side and an alliance of Great Britain, France, and Turkey on the
other. Most of the conflict took place in or near the Black Sea, but there
were hostilities also in the Baltic Sea and on the Finnish littoral. In
Russia and Finland, the war is also known as the Oriental War, and in
Britain, sometimes as the Russian War.
- The Fennoman movement was a political movement that wanted to
strengthen the Finnish national identity, especially among the
Finnish-speaking population, and elevate the status of the Finnish
language. They also wanted to civilize the Finnish-speaking people, most
of whom were uneducated. The Fennomans aimed to adopting the Finnish
language in place of the Swedish language as the language of culture
(Vahtola 262-263).
- Swedish and Finnish have been used in parallel in Finland for
centuries. By the 19th century, with the tightening of the administrative
system and the gradual replacement of Latin by Swedish as the language of
higher education, Swedish became the language of the upper class.
Meanwhile, Finnish was considered to be a peasant tongue (Maude 277-278).
- The Diet of Finland was the constitutional organ of autonomous
Finland from 1809 to 1907. The Diet was inherited from the Swedish times.
It was composed of four Estates: nobles, burghers, clergy and peasants. In
1907, the Diet was replaced by the unicameral Parliament (Maude 64).
- The Svecoman movement was the opponent of the Fennoman movement.
It was developed among the Swedish-speaking population in the early 1860s
when the Fennomans had seemed to become a popular political force. The
Svecomans championed the status of the Swedish language as the language of
culture and bureaucracy, and they did not believe that Finnish could be a
language of a developed culture (Maude 273-274).
- In this paper, the term "Scandinavian countries" is used to refer
to Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland, synonymously with the
term "Nordic countries". According to some stricter definitions,
"Scandinavian countries" refer to only Sweden and Norway, or Sweden,
Norway and Denmark. In these definitions, Finland would be a "Nordic"
country, but not a "Scandinavian" country.
- Translated by this author of this paper.
- The Finnish senate was the highest governing body in Finland from
1809 to 1917. It grew out of the Governing Council, whose regulations were
given by Tsar Alexander in 1809. The Governing Council was given the title
of Senate 1806. The Senate consisted of Finnish senators, who were
nominated by the Tsar. The chairman of the Senate was the Russian
governor-general (Maude 246).
- The Parliament of Finland was a 200-seat unicameral parliament,
established by The Parliament Act in 1906. It replaced the old Diet dating
back to 17th century, and was the most modern parliament in Europe at the
time (Kohi, Palo, Päivärinta, and Vihervä 50).
- Both Juutilainen's and Alkio's comments have been translated by
the author of this paper.
- Translated by the author of this paper.
- Founded in 1918, the Order of the Cross of Liberty is the oldest
order in Finland, and the President is its Grand Master. The Order awards
medals, called Crosses of Liberty, to citizens both in war time and time
of peace (The President).
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