Finnish Swedish Heritage Day (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ''svenska dagen'',

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

: ''ruotsalaisuuden päivä'') is a general

flag flying day 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, ...

, which is celebrated in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

on 6 November. The day celebrates the

Swedish-speaking population of Finland The Swedish-speaking population of Finland (whose members are called by many names; fi, suomenruotsalainen) can be used as an attribute., group=Note—see below; sv, finlandssvenskar; fi, suomenruotsalaiset) is a linguistic minority in Finl ...

, their culture, and the bilinguality of Finland. The main celebrations are aired on the radio, and many smaller celebrations are held around Finland in schools. Usually, the song Modersmålets sång is sung, celebrating the mother tongue. The Finnish Swedish Heritage Day is celebrated on the same day as

Gustavus Adolphus Day Gustavus Adolphus Day ( sv, Gustav Adolfsdagen; fi, Kustaa Aadolfin päivä; et, Gustav Adolfi päev) is celebrated in Sweden, Finland, and Estonia on 6 November in memory of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Observing the day became popular a ...

in Sweden, the day that king Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was killed at the Battle of Lützen in 1632. The Finland Swedish Heritage Day was created in 1908, when the newly founded

Swedish People's Party The Swedish People's Party of Finland ( sv, Svenska folkpartiet i Finland (SFP); fi, Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (RKP)) is a political party in Finland aiming to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finlan ...

of Finland decided to celebrate a day for the Swedes. The intention was to strengthen the Swedish-speaking Finnish community. The reason why the day of the death of king Gustavus Adolphus was chosen was because this also was the time when the empire of Sweden was founded. In the beginning, the celebrations largely circled around the king's persona. During the

language strife Finland's language strife ( sv, Finska språkstriden, lit=Finnish language dispute) ( fi, Suomen kielitaistelu, lit=Finnish language struggle) was a major conflict in mid-19th century Finland. Both the Swedish and Finnish languages were commonly u ...

of the 1930s the celebrations were overshadowed by street fights between Finnish and Swedish groups. Finnish-speaking students saw this day as a day for celebrating "aggressive imperialism". During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, both sides stopped fighting each other and emphasized that both language groups were part of Finland, thus the celebration of the day spread outside the political spectrum. Today, the day is led by

Swedish Assembly of Finland The Swedish Assembly of Finland ( sv, Svenska Finlands Folkting, fi, Suomenruotsalaiset kansankäräjät, although often referred to as ''Folktinget'' even in Finnish) is an official consultative parliament representing the Swedish-speaking mi ...

.Yle opinportti: Ruotsalaisuuden päivä, svenska dagen 6.11.
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References

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Swedish culture Society of Sweden Finnish culture Society of Finland November observances Swedish diaspora Autumn events in Finland Finnish flag flying days