Flag rules in Finland: when can you fly the flag, and how is the pennant used?
Flag regulations in Finland are quite permissive. In addition to official and established flag days, you can fly the flag or pennant whenever you wish.
A Finnish flag proudly flying in the yard tops off any festive occasion. On Finnish flag days, flying the flag is certainly permitted. But can you also hoist the flag at the cottage in honor of a teenager’s confirmation party or grandpa’s 70th birthday?
Yes, you certainly can. In Finland, flag culture is quite permissive: you can fly the flag in honor of almost anything, whenever you feel like it. However, certain aspects related to the use of the flag are outlined in law and government decrees, which also regulate official flag days and times.
Typically, you should hoist the flag at eight in the morning and lower it at sunset or by nine in the evening at the latest. However, there are exceptions: for example, on Midsummer and election days, the flag will be kept raised longer than on other days.
Official and established Finnish flag days
You can practice your flag-hoisting skills at least on official flag days, of which there are seven in Finland:
- February 28: Kalevala Day, the Day of Finnish Culture
- May 1: May Day, the Day of Finnish Labour
- Second Sunday in May: Mother’s Day
- June 4: Flag Day of the Finnish Defence Forces
- Saturday between June 20–26: Midsummer Eve and the Day of the Finnish Flag
- Second Sunday in November: Father’s Day
- December 6: Independence Day
Official flag days also include election days and the day when the President of the Republic assumes office.
In addition to official flag days, there are 15 other days to fly the flag, commonly known as established flag days:
- February 5: Birthday of the poet J.L. Runeberg
- March 19: Minna Canth’s Day, Day of Equality
- April 9: Mikael Agricola’s Day, Day of the Finnish Language
- April 27: National War Veterans’ Day
- May 9: Europe Day
- May 12: Birthday of the statesman J. V. Snellman, Day of Finnish Identity
- Third Sunday in May: Remembrance Day
- July 6: Birthday of the poet Eino Leino, Day of Finnish Poetry and Summer
- Last Saturday in August: Finland’s Nature Day
- October 1: Miina Sillanpää Day and Day of Civic Participation
- October 10: Birthday of the writer Aleksis Kivi, Day of Finnish Literature
- October 24: United Nations Day
- November 6: Svenska dagen, Finnish Swedish Heritage Day
- November 20: Day of Children’s Rights
- December 8: Birthday of the composer Jean Sibelius, Day of Finnish Music
It is good practice to fly the flag on both official and established flag days. If you usually keep a pennant on the pole at your cottage, it’s customary to replace it with the blue-cross flag on flag days.
Flying the flag at half-mast
It’s also good to familiarize yourself in advance with the flagging guidelines related to the less frequent occasion of mourning. When flying the flag at half-mast, it is first hoisted to the top and then lowered by one-third of the pole’s length, so that the lower edge of the flag is at the midpoint of the pole. When you stop flying the flag at half-mast, you first need to raise the flag to the top and only then lower it.
Many may not know that on the day of a funeral, the flag is not supposed to be kept at half-mast all day. You should begin flying the flag at half-mast at eight in the morning and hoist the flag to half-mast. After the funeral service, however, the flag should be raised to the top for the remainder of the day.
Other flags and pennants
You can raise more than just the Finnish flag on your pole. In hotel courtyards and exhibition centers, you sometimes see long rows of flags from different countries. If relatives from Sweden are visiting your cottage in the summer, are you allowed to raise the Swedish flag if you for some reason have one lying around? Yes, you can: you can raise a foreign national flag in Finland in situations like these, such as in honor of a foreign guest.
Instead of a flag, a more common sight in a summer cottage garden is a pennant flying on the pole. The pennant can be used even more casually than the flag. Nothing prevents you from keeping it on the pole around the clock, and there are no restrictions on its use.
According to old tradition, the pennant signals that the residents are present, and when they leave for a longer period, they lower it. In practice, however, the pennant is often left on the pole even if the residents leave the cottage for a while.
Originally, only the still-used blue-cross pennant was available, but later the selection expanded to include pennants with provincial colors and some even with coats of arms. In many yards, it is the pennant of the host’s former or current home region that flies. The one flying the pennant is free to choose what they wish to highlight with it. Anyone living in the cottage can use one, even if they don’t own the cottage.
But what if one Midsummer you happen to leave the cottage in a hurry and forget to lower the flag from the pole? The Act on the Finnish Flag stipulates that the flag should not be used disrespectfully and that the flag flying times specified in the decree should be followed.
However, there is no fine for forgetting the flag on the pole—extended flag flying mainly just shows that you don’t quite master the flag flying rules. Don’t worry: even if you’re not entirely sure about the flag flying guidelines, the ethos in Finland is that it’s better to fly the flag than not.
Now all that’s left is to know how to raise and lower the flag or pennant on the pole. If you haven’t yet acquired the skill, you can surely find help from relatives, friends, or the vast resources of the internet.
How can I install a flagpole in my yard?
- Creating the foundation with a concrete casting is the most common and affordable method, if you don’t count your own labor cost. An iron ground mount is installed in a one-meter-deep concrete casting. If you have major yard work being done at the same time, you can make use of an excavator and lift a ready-made concrete element into place.
- You can manage without concrete casting by installing a screw pile about 1.5 meters deep into the ground.
- In the case of rocky ground, you can drill holes into it and use injection compound to attach mounting irons in them.
- The price of the pole, foundation, and installation is around 1,000 euros. If you purchase the materials and make the foundation yourself, you can do it for half the price.
Experts: Specialist Aino Tuovinen, Ministry of the Interior; Professor Emeritus of Museology Janne Vilkuna, University of Jyväskylä; and CEO Tommi Sirén, Plastiset Oy.
Other sources used: intermin.fi, kotiseutuliitto.fi.
