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 The flag of Finland ( fi, Suomen lippu, sv, Finlands flagga), also called ' ("Blue Cross Flag"), dates from the beginning of the 20th century. On a white background, it features a blue Nordic cross, which represents Christianity. The stat ...

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 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, ...

s as listed below. Any citizen has a right to fly the flag on their own property if they deem it appropriate, for example in celebration of birthdays or weddings in the family. Midsummer's day is additionally celebrated as Flag Day in Finland.

Legal enforcement

By law, the Finnish flag must be flown from public buildings on the following days. It is recommended that private citizens to also fly the flag on these days. *28 February,

Kalevala Day Kalevala Day (Finnish: Kalevalan päivä), known as ''Culture of Finland, Finnish Culture Day'' by its other official name, is celebrated each 28 February in honor of the Finnish national epic, ''Kalevala''. The day is one of the official flag f ...

; the occasion is also celebrated as the Day of Finnish culture *1 May,

Vappu Walpurgis Night (), an abbreviation of Saint Walpurgis Night (from the German ), also known as Saint Walpurga's Eve (alternatively spelled Saint Walburga's Eve), is the eve of the Christian feast day of Saint Walpurga, an 8th-century abbess i ...

, the Day of Finnish Labour *Second Sunday in May,

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in th ...

*4 June, birthday of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Marshal of Finland; the occasion is also celebrated as the Flag Day of the

Finnish Defence Forces The Finnish Defence Forces ( fi, Puolustusvoimat, sv, Försvarsmakten) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime the Finnish Border Guard (whic ...

*Saturday between 20 June and 26 June,

Midsummer Day Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe. The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian martyr S ...

; 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 Father's Day is a holiday of honoring fatherhood and paternal bonds, as well as the influence of fathers in society. In Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on 19 March as Saint Joseph's Day since the Middle Ages. In the Unite ...

in Finland *6 December, Independence Day *Days when Finland holds parliamentary, presidential and local

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

, elections to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, or a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

*The day the President of Finland is inaugurated (1 February or 1 March in every six years, next time in 2024)

Customary flag days

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. *3 February, Day of Finnish architecture and design, birthday of Alvar Aalto *5 February, birthday of the national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg *19 March, birthday of novelist and playwright

Minna Canth Minna Canth (; born Ulrika Wilhelmina Johnson; 19 March 1844 – 12 May 1897) was a Finnish writer and social activist. Canth began to write while managing her family draper's shop and living as a widow raising seven children. Her work addresse ...

, Day of

Equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elit ...

*9 April, Day of the

Finnish language Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedis ...

. On this day

Mikael Agricola Mikael Agricola (; c. 1510 – 9 April 1557) was a Finnish Lutheran clergyman who became the de facto founder of literary Finnish and a prominent proponent of the Protestant Reformation in Sweden, including Finland, which was a Swedish territo ...

, the founder of the literary

died, and

Elias Lönnrot Elias Lönnrot (; 9 April 1802 – 19 March 1884) was a Finnish physician, philologist and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. He is best known for creating the Finnish national epic, ''Kalevala'', (1835, enlarged 1849), from short ...

, a collector of

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

was born. *27 April, National War Veterans' Day *9 May, Europe Day *12 May, Day of the Finnish Identity (or The Finnish Identity Day), birthday of the statesman

Johan Vilhelm Snellman Johan Vilhelm Snellman (; 12 May 1806 – 4 July 1881) was an influential Fennoman philosopher and Finnish statesman, ennobled in 1866. He was one of the most important 'awakeners' or promoters of Finnish nationalism, alongside Elias Lönnrot an ...

*Third Sunday in May, memorial day for the war dead (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 Eino Leino (born Armas Einar Leopold Lönnbohm; 6 July 1878 – 10 January 1926) was a Finnish poet and journalist who is considered one of the pioneers of Finnish poetry and a national poet of Finland. His poems combine modern and Finnish fo ...

; the occasion is also a celebration of poetry and summer *10 October, birthday of the National writer Aleksis Kivi; the occasion is also celebrated as the Day of

Finnish literature Finnish literature refers to literature written in Finland. During the European early Middle Ages, the earliest text in a Finnic language is the unique thirteenth-century Birch bark letter no. 292 from Novgorod. The text was written in Cyri ...

*24 October, Day of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

*6 November,

Finnish Swedish Heritage Day Finnish Swedish Heritage Day (Swedish: ''svenska dagen'', Finnish: ''ruotsalaisuuden päivä'') is a general flag flying day, which is celebrated in Finland on 6 November. The day celebrates the Swedish-speaking population of Finland, their cultur ...

and

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 ...

*8 December, birthday of the composer

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

; the occasion is also celebrated as the Day of

Finnish music The music of Finland can be roughly divided into categories of folk music, classical and contemporary art music, and contemporary popular music. The folk music of Finland belongs to a broader musical tradition, that has been common amongst B ...

''Ministry of the Interior - The days the flag is flown''
. Retrieved 27 May 2012.

References

{{Reflist Finnish culture Society of Finland Lists of observances

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 ...

Legal enforcement

Customary flag days

See also

References