This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2017) |
Flag flying days in Finland are days of the year when the national flag is flown nationwide, either by law or by custom. The flag of Finland is generally flown only on special occasions to celebrate or honour someone or something. On certain days of the year the state officially flies the flag, and recommends all private citizens to do so as well, these are the flag flying days as listed below. [1] Any citizen has a right to fly the flag on their own property if they deem it appropriate, [2] [3] for example in celebration of birthdays or weddings in the family. Midsummer's day is additionally celebrated as Flag Day in Finland.
By law, the Finnish flag must be flown from public buildings on the following days. [4] It is recommended that private citizens to also fly the flag on these days.
Date | English Name [3] | Local Name [2] | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
28 February | Kalevala Day | Kalevalan päivä | the occasion is also celebrated as the Day of Finnish culture |
1 May | Walpurgis night | Vappu | |
Second Sunday in May | Mother's Day | Äitienpäivä | |
4 June | Flag Day of the Finnish Defence Forces | puolustusvoimain lippujuhlan päivä | the occasion is also celebrated as the birthday of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Marshal of Finland |
Saturday between 20 and 26 June | Midsummer Day | Juhannus | the occasion is also celebrated as the Day of the Finnish Flag. The flag is hoisted on Midsummer's eve at 6 PM and flown through the night until 9 PM the next day. |
Second Sunday in November | Father's Day | Isänpäivä | |
6 December | Independence Day | Itsenäisyyspäivä | |
Movable | Days when Finland holds parliamentary, presidential and local elections, elections to the European Parliament, or a referendum | ||
Movable | The day the President of Finland is inaugurated | presidentin virkaanastumispäivä | 1 February or 1 March in every six years |
It has become customary to fly the Finnish flag on the following occasions. These dates are also listed in the Finnish State Calendar compiled by the University of Helsinki, and it is recommended that the flag is flown on these occasions. [5]
Date | English Name [3] | Local Name [2] | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
3 February | Day of Finnish architecture and design | Arkkitehtuurin ja muotoilun päiviä | Birthday of Alvar Aalto [6] |
5 February | Birthday of the national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg | Runebergin päivä | |
19 March | Birthday of novelist and playwright Minna Canth and Day of Equality | Minna Canthin päivä or Tasa-arvon päivä | |
9 April | Day of the Finnish language | suomen kielen päivä | On this day Mikael Agricola, the founder of the literary Finnish language died, and Elias Lönnrot, a collector of folklore was born. |
Saturday between 20 and 26 June | Midsummer Day | Juhannus | the occasion is also celebrated as the Day of the Finnish Flag. The flag is hoisted on Midsummer's eve at 6 PM and flown through the night until 9 PM the next day. |
27 April | National Veterans' Day | kansallinen veteraanipäivä | |
9 May | Europe Day | Eurooppa-päivä | It is advised by the Finnish Ministry of the Interior that the European Union Flag is flown alongside the Finnish flag on this day. [7] |
12 May | Day of Finnish Identity (or The Finnish Identity Day) | suomalaisuuden päivä | Birthday of the statesman Johan Vilhelm Snellman |
Third Sunday in May | Remembrance Day | kaatuneitten muistopäivä | A memorial day for everyone who has died in Finnish wars, combat-like duties or peacekeeping operations both during fighting and after they've ceased, including those executed or who have died as a POW. |
6 July | Birthday of the poet Eino Leino | Leinon päivä | the occasion is also a celebration of poetry and summer |
10 October | Birthday of the National writer Aleksis Kivi | Aleksis Kiven päivä | the occasion is also celebrated as the Day of Finnish literature |
24 October | United Nations Day | Yhdistyneiden Kansakuntien päivä | |
6 November | Finnish Swedish Heritage Day and Gustavus Adolphus Day | svenska dagen or ruotsalaisuuden päivä | |
8 December | Birthday of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius | Jean Sibeliuksen päivä | the occasion is also celebrated as the Day of Finnish music [8] |
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, opposite Estonia. Finland covers an area of 338,145 square kilometres (130,559 sq mi) and has a population of 5.6 million. Helsinki is the capital and largest city. The vast majority of the population are ethnic Finns. Finnish and Swedish are the official languages, with Swedish being the native language of 5.2% of the population. Finland's climate varies from humid continental in the south to boreal in the north. The land cover is predominantly boreal forest biome, with more than 180,000 recorded lakes.
The foreign relations of Finland are the responsibility of the president of Finland, who leads foreign policy in cooperation with the government. Implicitly the government is responsible for internal policy and decision making in the European Union. Within the government, preparative discussions are conducted in the government committee of foreign and security policy, which includes the Prime Minister and at least the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Defence, and at most four other ministers as necessary. The committee meets with the President as necessary. Laws concerning foreign relations are discussed in the parliamentary committee of foreign relations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs implements the foreign policy.
The national flag of Sweden consists of a yellow or gold Nordic cross on a field of light blue. The Nordic cross design traditionally represents Christianity. The design and colours of the Swedish flag are believed to have been inspired by the present coat of arms of Sweden of 1442, which is blue divided quarterly by a cross pattée of gold. Blue and yellow have been used as Swedish colours at least since Magnus III's royal coat of arms of 1275.
The Flag of Finland, also called siniristilippu, dates from the beginning of the 20th century. On a white background, it features a blue Nordic cross, which represents Christianity.
Finnair is the flag carrier and largest full-service legacy airline of Finland, with headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international air travel in Finland. Its major shareholder is the government of Finland, which owns 55.9% of its shares. Finnair is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance.
The national flag of Norway is red with a navy blue Scandinavian cross bordered in white that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog, the flag of Denmark.
By an ordinance issued by the Government of Sweden, a number of days of the calendar year are designated as official flag flying days. This means that the Flag of Sweden is flown on all public flag poles and buildings. Hoisting of the Swedish flag on private flagpoles on these days is also strongly encouraged, but not mandatory.
All official holidays in Finland are established by acts of Parliament. The official holidays can be divided into Christian and non-Christian holidays. The main Christian holidays are Christmas, New Year's Day, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension day, Pentecost, Midsummer Day, and All Saints' Day. The non-Christian holidays are May Day and the Independence Day of Finland.
The national flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Jack, also known as the Union Flag.
The national flag of Zambia was adopted upon independence on 24 October 1964, by the first Republican President Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda. Before that, Zambia was the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia and used a defaced Blue Ensign as its flag.
A flag day is a flag-related holiday, a day designated for flying a certain flag or a day set aside to celebrate a historical event such as a nation's adoption of its flag.
Half-mast or half-staff refers to a flag flying below the summit of a ship mast, a pole on land, or a pole on a building. In many countries this is seen as a symbol of respect, mourning, distress, or, in some cases, a salute.
The jack of the United States, referred to as the Union Jack by the U.S. Navy, is a maritime jack flag flown on the bow of U.S. vessels that are moored or anchored. In addition to commissioned U.S. Navy ships, the jack is used by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Military Sealift Command, the ships of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other U.S. government entities. While anchored or moored, the jack is flown on the bow of a ship, and the ensign is flown on the stern. Once under way, the jack is lowered.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Finland are among the most advanced in the world. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity have been legal in Finland since 1971 with "promotion" thereof decriminalized and the age of consent equalized in 1999. Homosexuality was declassified as an illness in 1981. Discrimination based on sexual orientation in areas such as employment, the provision of goods and services, etc., was criminalized in 1995 and discrimination based on gender identity in 2005.
A flag protocol is a set of rules and regulations for the display of flags within a country, including national, subnational, and foreign flags. Generally, flag protocols call for the national flag to be the most prominent flag, flown highest and to its own right and for the flag to never touch the ground. Enforcement of flag protocols vary by nation, with some countries using flag protocols as recommendations and guidelines, while some countries enforce the violations of flag protocol with civil or criminal penalties.
The flag of Australia, also known as the Australian Blue Ensign, is based on the British Blue Ensign—a blue field with the Union Jack in the upper hoist quarter—augmented with a large white seven-pointed star and a representation of the Southern Cross constellation, made up of five white stars. Australia also has a number of other official flags representing its people and core functions of government.
Finland is a predominantly Christian nation where 65.2% of the Finnish population of 5.6 million are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (Protestant), 32.0% are unaffiliated, 1.1% are Orthodox Christians, 0.9% are other Christians and 0.8% follow other religions like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, folk religion etc. These statistics do not include, for example, asylum seekers who have not been granted a permanent residence permit.
There is a number of flag flying days in Norway.
The national flag of Ireland, frequently referred to in Ireland as 'the tricolour' and elsewhere as the Irish tricolour is a vertical tricolour of green, white and orange. The proportions of the flag are 1:2.
A flag flying day is a day, when it is decreed, either officially or by tradition, that the national flag should be hoisted by every official agency in the country and private citizens and corporations are also recommended to fly the national flag, thus for those days neither leaving the flag staff empty nor using their own family or corporate flags. There may also be flag flying days observed for some provincial flags.