The national flag of Finland, also known in Finnish as the siniristilippu ('Blue Cross Flag'), dates from the beginning of the 20th century. The flag was adopted after independence from the Russian Empire, but its design has roots in the 19th century.
Symbolically, blue is said to represent the country's thousands of lakes and the sky, and white the snow that covers the land in winter. The colour combination has also been used historically in various Finnish provincial, military and town flags. The Nordic cross pattern connects to the shared tradition with other Nordic countries. While the cross itself is a Christian symbol and holds this meaning for some Finns, for many, the flag's primary association is with the nation's identity.
The flag has two main variations: the civil flag and the state flag. The state flag has the Finnish coat of arms in the centre, but is otherwise identical to the civil flag. Other variations are the swallow-tailed state flag used by the military, and the presidential standard, which is identical to the swallow-tailed state flag but also has in its upper-left corner the Cross of Liberty.
The first known "Flag of Finland" was presented in 1848, along with the de facto national anthem "Maamme". Its motif was the coat of arms of Finland surrounded by laurel leaves on a white flag.
The current blue-crossed design was first used in Finland by Nyländska Jaktklubben, a yacht club founded in Helsinki in 1861. In addition to the blue cross on the white background, the yacht club flag had the crowned arms of the province of Uusimaa within two crossed branches in the upper hoist quarter. Except for the position of the cross, the flag was similar to the flag of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, which had been founded the previous year. The design can be traced to the Russian Navy's ensign, which has a blue cross saltire on a white background. During the Crimean War, Finnish merchant ships that were captured by the British-French fleet flew a flag called Flag of St. George, which was based on the Russian Customs flag. This variant had the cross was thinner than in the modern flag, and the proportions were equal. Another flag with a blue cross was made official in 1861 for private vessels.
In 1910, in connection with Russification of Finland, the Russian authorities decreed for a Russian flag to be added to the canton. However, it was met with resistance and was derided as the "slave's flag" (orjalippu), and most Finns refused to fly it. Instead, a triangular pennant without this modification was flown, thereby circumventing the decree concerning flags.
Shortly after Finland declared its full independence in 1917, a competition was held for the design of the Finnish flag. Several different designs were submitted. Regarding the colours, the entries fell mainly into two categories: one using the red and yellow from the Finnish coat of arms and the other using the present blue and white colours.
One entry had the Dannebrog cross design but with a yellow cross on a red background. Another entry had diagonal blue and white stripes, but it was criticized[by whom?] as being more suitable for a barber shop than a newly independent country. Akseli Gallen-Kallela proposed a similar cross flag but with colours inverted (white cross on blue), but this was considered too similar to the Swedish flag and particularly the contemporary Greek flag. Finally, the artists Eero Snellman and Bruno Tuukkanen specified the final form of the flag. According to tradition, the flag was based on a design by the poet Zachris Topelius in about 1860.
The Finnish state flag was further modified in 1920, when the shield-shaped coat of arms with a coronet was changed into a rectangular-shaped one. The blue on the flag was also darkened.
Under Finnish law, the ratio of the flag is 11:18 (height:width), very close to the golden ratio. The swallow-tailed state flag is one unit longer, and the tails are five units long. The cusp width of the blue cross is three units of measure, giving a ratio set of 4:3:4 (vertical) and 5:3:10 (horizontal). When flown from a flagpole, the flag is recommended to have a width equalling one-sixth of the height of the pole.
The Finnish flag is used in three main variants. The usual national flag is used by all citizens, organisations and Finnish municipalities and regions. Anyone is allowed to fly the national flag whenever it is deemed to be suitable. The rectangular state flag is used by bodies of the Finnish national and provincial governments, by the cathedral chapters of the two national churches (Evangelical Lutheran and Orthodox) and non-naval vessels of the state.
The swallow-tailed national flag, which is also the naval ensign, is flown by the Finnish Defence Forces. The presidential standard and the command signs of the minister of defence, chief of defence, and commander of the Finnish Navy are flown only by the respective persons.
All public bodies as well as most private citizens and corporations fly the flag on official flag flying days. In addition to the official flag flying days, there are about ten unofficial but generally observed flag flying days. Besides flag flying days, normally, no flags or corporate flags are flown. Flag Day is celebrated on Midsummer's Day.
The Finnish flag is raised at 8 am and lowered at sunset, however not later than 9 pm. On Independence Day, the flag is flown until 8 pm, regardless of the dark. On the occasion of great national tragedies, the Ministry of The Interior may recommend flying the flag at half-mast throughout the country.
As a special custom in Finland, the flag is flown at Midsummer from 6 pm of Midsummer eve until 9 pm of Midsummer's day. This is done to symbolize the fact that the darkness does not come to any part of Finland during Midsummer's Night. Midsummer is also celebrated as the day of the Finnish flag.
The current standard colours were defined in 1995 in both CIE 1931 and CIE 1976 standards, with approximate equivalents in the Natural Colour System (Swedish standard SS 01 91 22) and by the Pantone Color Matching System also given:
Meanwhile, the original colors of the Finnish flag are as follows:
There is no official RGB version of the colours, and in fact the yellow as defined in the CIE L*a*b* standard lies outside colour gamut of the sRGB colour space. The CIE L*a*b* colours can be approximated in sRGB (range 0–255) by: blue R=24, G=68, B=126, red R=181, G=28, B=49 and yellow R=237, G=167, B=0. The blue colour is called "sea blue", which is a dark to medium blue. It is not very dark navy blue, and not any bright or greenish shade such as turquoise or cyan.