Tervetuloa - Welcome - Herzlich Willkommen

 

The Flag

 

The Finnish flag features a blue cross on a white background. It takes two forms, the national (civil) flag and the state flag.

The flag with "the blue of our lakes and the white snow of our winters", as a poet described these symbolic colours in 1870, was made official in a law enacted on 29th May, 1918, less than six months after Finland had achieved independence. A new law entered into force in 1978.

The national flag     

 

The national flag is rectangular in shape and its dimensions are: height l l and width 18 units of measurement; width of cross 3 units, colour PMS294C; height of fields 4 units, length of fields at the hoist 5 units and of fields at the fly 10 units. Every Finnish citizen enjoys the right to fly the national flag. With certain exceptions, the national flag is flown by Finnish vessels as their national ensign.

The state flag      

 

 

The state flag is either rectangular or threepointed. The coat of arms of Finland is inset in the square formed by the intersecting arms of the cross. The square has a yellow border, the width of which is onefortieth of the width of the cross. State departments and establishments fly the rectangular state flag. The Defence Forces use the threepointed version of the flag, which is one unit of measurement longer than the national flag or the rectangular state flag. The President of the Republic uses a threepointed version of the state flag, in the canton of which a blue and yellow Cross of Freedom is featured.

 

Finnish official flag-raising days in 2007
Monday February 5 National Poet Runeberg's Day
tuesday February 6 Saami National Day
Wednesday February 28 Kalevala, the Finnish National Epic Day
Monday April 9 Finnish Language Day
Friday April 27 Veterans' Day
Tuesday May 1 Labour Day
Sunday May 15 Mothers' Day
Saturday May 12 Finnish Heritage Day
Monday May 21 Remembrance Day
Monday June 4 Flag Day of Defence Forces
Saturday June 23 Midsummer Day
Friday July 6 Summer and Poetry Day
Thursday August 9 International Day of the World's Indigenous People
Wednesday October 10 Finnish Literature Day
Wednesday October 24 United Nations Day
Tuesday November 6 Finnish Swedish Heritage Day
Sunday November 11 Fathers' Day
Thursday December 6 Independence Day of Finland

Published January 2004 / Updated June 2007

 

 

 

 

 

 


bronze age grave on Meilahti rock in Helsinki

foto: newspaper