Independent Finland turns 100 years this week. She does not have to worry much though, since she is still young compared to most European countries. Symbolism is always welcome when trying to make sense of countries and states: what makes them special compared to other countries and what renders a certain country meaningful for its citizens.
A national flag might be the most visible symbol these days, albeit not always the oldest. The Finnish flag looks simple enough, but it is a result of compromises and sensitive political situations. The Finnish national flag could have been very different – yet at the same time it is hard to imagine it looking like anything else than it does now. There are four different variations of the Finnish flag: national, state, war or naval and presidential. Following is the short history behind their designs.
The Coat-of-arms
For 350 years, the only emblem Finland had was the coat-of-arms with a golden lion on a red background. This token was granted for Finland in 1581 when Finland was considered to be an eastern region of Sweden. Perhaps the most interesting detail about the coat-of-arms is the fact that the lion is trudging on a scimitar from the East. This may have been another reason why the lion emblem – just as the initial national colors red and yellow – were later considered pro-Swedish (as in supporting the position of Swedish as the language of civilization and culture) and to signal a sense of resistance towards Russia.
During the years of Swedish rule an early prototype of the Finnish flag was seen in the form of the arms pictured in a flag, although it was more akin to an emblem for the duke that managed the area of Finland and to a sign for military troops than to a symbol for the place and the people.
Things first got exciting for Finland in 1809 when it was attached to the Russian empire as a Grand Duchy of Finland but not incorporated – as Finland got to keep its old laws, liberties and religion, it became an economic entity and separate national body for a first time in history. As it happens, this new situation and new freedom made the Finns want to build their nation and underline their difference from the surrounding nations. And what better way to do that than to choose a flag. In 1863 a dispute over the coloring occurred: whether to use the old national colors red and yellow, or a newer combination of white and blue, drawing inspiration from the Finnish nature and especially recommended by pro-Finnish poets and authors. It is not like the measure was accepted by the Russians when it was contemplated to be introduced in the long-awaited assembly of the parliament in 1863, though.
Yacht club
An interesting detail in the history of the Finnish flag is the contribution of a yacht club from southern Finland, from Uusimaa region. In 1861, Nyländska Jaktklubben introduced their very own white flag with blue cross of Saint George, similar to the current national flag. This flag was decorated with Uusimaa coat-of-arms, and was mimicked by other yacht clubs. However, the flag was designed after the ensign used by Russian yacht clubs and did not carry a patriotic message.
Colors
Before Finland’s independency that occurred in 1917, several different flags could be spotted on the streets, especially during turbulent times. In short, the combination of red and yellow was preferred by the Swedish speaking populace and liberal parties with a radical stance considering the self-sufficiency of the Finnish nation. Among the different suggestions, the Scandinavian cross could be already seen in those colors exactly. Red and yellow were thought to be more historical and proud than the poetic white and blue.
The combination of white and blue was fostered by Finnish speaking elites, people of the countryside and political parties that operated a more compromising approach towards the Russian. These colors were considered more neutral and more in accord with the Finnish nature and the spirit of the Finnish common folk. On the other hand, the Russian tsar seemed to prefer these colors – they had a distant connection to the imperial colors and were used on the ensign of the navy of imperial Russia.
From 1863 to the early 20th century, different striped flags in both colors were common unofficial symbols, appearing in World’s Fairs of Paris, for instance. The lion featuring coat-of-arms was accepted as the official symbol of blooming Finnish “state”. It appeared alongside the multi-colored flags and also incorporated in some designs.
Resistance
As mentioned earlier, the different political parties had different preferences for the colors of the flag. From the late 1890s, the Russian empire and tsar forbid the use of the lion arms. This and a set of other measures stirred a lot of resistance in Finland. Red and yellow, the colors of the lion, were seen as more radical, but at this point one could not disregard white and blue as un-patriotic either: the colors were associated with Finnish ethos and one clever way to make a “Finnish flag” was to cut the red stripe off from the Russian flag.
Civil war
Before independence in 1917, the lion of the arms had acquired almost mythical position as a forbidden symbol of the state and a red flag with the lion in the middle had gained popularity. The lion flag was almost declared as the state ensign and the civil ensign was about to be a yellow cross on red background. In 1918, a bitter civil war between the red (the socialists or the labor movement) and the white (the bourgeoisie and the nationalists) interrupted the plans and changed the destiny of the Finnish flag for good.
It goes without saying that red flag was a symbol of revolution and labor movement. In Finland’s case, the socialists also used the red based lion flag as a symbol of democracy and break from the imperialist authority during the general strike in 1905, long before it was made official state flag by the bourgeois white side in January 1918.
However, the aforementioned dispute on the colors of the national flag was between different bourgeois or elitist group, and the romanticized notion of “folk” described the landowners of countryside. The workers and the landless (now on the red side of the war) were left completely outside the flag discourse. As they lost the Civil War of 1918, red color on flag became more and more associated with the communists and the laborers, even though where the bourgeois flag dispute had been of interest to the socialists at all, they had usually been on the side of the less oligarchic white and blue.
State ensign and civil ensign
After the civil war of 1918, the lion and the combination of red and yellow was still preferred by some, especially the Swedish folk party. Nevertheless, not only did the red color remind of bloodshed and communists, it had also long been a color associated with Russia. As yellow and red were also inheritance of Swedish rule, the flag committee ended up preferring the colors of white and blue, which were at this point considered to be more patriotic. The liberal parties of the cities had reconsidered their attitudes since the civil war had decayed their faith in progress and were now approving the more traditional colors associated with common folk of the countryside.
The Nordic cross that had mainly prevailed in the designs approved by the Swedish speaking populace, had gained popularity, because it marked distance between Finland and Soviet Russia and tied Finland to the west. As a compromise to those that still preferred the valiant and historical colors of the lion, the coat-of-arms was placed in the middle of the state flag.
To have different state ensign and merchant ensign (also known as civil ensign) is not very common in the contemporary world. Ironically maybe, Finland is also known mainly for her civil ensign, which does not carry the coat-of-arms and thus does not represent the original compromise. The Finnish war ensign (used by the military and naval force) is the state ensign swallow tailed, following the example of other Nordic war flags. The president of Finland flags the war ensign with a cross of liberty in the left upper corner.
Pictures:
Thumbnail by the author herself (2017).
Rest of the pictures are from Wikimedia Commons and in the public domain both in Finland and the United States.
This article has drawn information and inspiration from Tuomas Tepora’s book Sinun puolestas elää ja kuolla (2011 WSOY). Also Kimmo Kiljunen’s knowledge on flags has offered great backing (e.g. Maailman maat – liput ja historia (2014 Into) has a chapter on Finnish flag).