The blue and white colours of the current flag trace their origins to the Russian imperial maritime colours, which the Fennomans—a group advocating for Finnish identity and language—adopted in the 1850s. Initially, the Fennomans were loyal to the Russian Tsar, who had improved the status of the Finnish language in the Grand Duchy of Finland, despite the region being predominantly governed by a Swedish elite. Later, during the russification periods, the fennomans turned against the Tsar but kept the colours. The Svecomans, who sought to emphasize Finland’s Swedish heritage, preferred red and yellow, derived from the Swedish-era coat of arms of Finland.
After declaring independence Finland initially adopted the lion flag, which was popular among the general public. But following the civil war, the fennomans gained the upper hand in the flag debate once the colour red became tarnished by the communist uprising. The blue and white became the basis of the flag, but as a compromise the red and yellow were incorporated through the inclusion of the coat of arms. Also, the cross design was chosen to emphasize connections with Sweden and Scandinavia.
In 1920, the crown was removed from the coat of arms. People mostly used the maritime flag without the lion, since it was easier to make. And by 1978, the law was changed so that the maritime flag became the official civil flag. The state flag was relegated to be only used by the government.
And that has only seen a minor refinement since then, I assume.
Literally the most boring flag of all flags in graph
This claim that civil flag has been the national flag only since 1978 seems odd. Got sources?
[Here’s a page by Ministry of the Interior](https://intermin.fi/en/flag-and-arms/about-the-flag/history-of-the-flag) in English saying the blue-and-white design has been the official design since 1918 with only slight changes to the law (not the flag). The Finnish version of the page is a bit more clearly phrased.
I didn’t look into it further but from the wikipedia page, it seems 1978 is actually the adoption year of the current version of the *state flag*, as well as the war flag variant. (Didn’t know we had one.)
Very cool!
Wasn’t it Moskovia back in 1712?
Finlandalonia wtf
Origin of the Danish flag (popular bullspit legend):
Dropped from Heaven by God during Denmark’s war with what would later become Estonia in 1219.
Our flag would later just be copied by other Nordic countries, but with different colours * **wink wink** *
10 comments
The blue and white colours of the current flag trace their origins to the Russian imperial maritime colours, which the Fennomans—a group advocating for Finnish identity and language—adopted in the 1850s. Initially, the Fennomans were loyal to the Russian Tsar, who had improved the status of the Finnish language in the Grand Duchy of Finland, despite the region being predominantly governed by a Swedish elite. Later, during the russification periods, the fennomans turned against the Tsar but kept the colours. The Svecomans, who sought to emphasize Finland’s Swedish heritage, preferred red and yellow, derived from the Swedish-era coat of arms of Finland.
After declaring independence Finland initially adopted the lion flag, which was popular among the general public. But following the civil war, the fennomans gained the upper hand in the flag debate once the colour red became tarnished by the communist uprising. The blue and white became the basis of the flag, but as a compromise the red and yellow were incorporated through the inclusion of the coat of arms. Also, the cross design was chosen to emphasize connections with Sweden and Scandinavia.
In 1920, the crown was removed from the coat of arms. People mostly used the maritime flag without the lion, since it was easier to make. And by 1978, the law was changed so that the maritime flag became the official civil flag. The state flag was relegated to be only used by the government.
And that has only seen a minor refinement since then, I assume.
Literally the most boring flag of all flags in graph
This claim that civil flag has been the national flag only since 1978 seems odd. Got sources?
[Here’s a page by Ministry of the Interior](https://intermin.fi/en/flag-and-arms/about-the-flag/history-of-the-flag) in English saying the blue-and-white design has been the official design since 1918 with only slight changes to the law (not the flag). The Finnish version of the page is a bit more clearly phrased.
You will also find that [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Finland) uses the same 1918 adoption date for the civil flag as national flag.
I didn’t look into it further but from the wikipedia page, it seems 1978 is actually the adoption year of the current version of the *state flag*, as well as the war flag variant. (Didn’t know we had one.)
Very cool!
Wasn’t it Moskovia back in 1712?
Finlandalonia wtf
Origin of the Danish flag (popular bullspit legend):
Dropped from Heaven by God during Denmark’s war with what would later become Estonia in 1219.
Our flag would later just be copied by other Nordic countries, but with different colours * **wink wink** *
it looks like a yacht club flag
And on this weeks episode of fun with flags…