Hey geograpeeps!
Hope you liked the Finland episode!
I loved filming it because it brought back so many memories...
...of salmiakki ice cream.
No seriously, I'm like 'this' close to buying a flight ticket there
just so I could buy a huge box of that ice cream stuff.
I'm not even gonna stay at a hotel.
My whole trip there will just be me sitting on a bench, eating ice cream
and then when I'm done I'm just gonna fly back.
So let's talk about the flag!
Without further ado...!
So you would think this episode is probably gonna be a little simple
because, I mean... c'mon, let's be honest
there's not much going on on the Finnish flag
However...!
Yeah, it's true... This episode is gonna be pretty simple
The flag of Finland is just a white banner with a blue Nordic cross
Of course, like all other Nordic cross flags, the cross was derived from Christianity.
Some people will say that colour-wise, the white stands for the winter snows and the blue stands for the blue skies and the thousands of lakes in Finland.
The first time that this specific flag configuration was used was in 1861 by a yacht club, and then it gained popularity
and then all the Russian stuff drama happened
and then finally in 1917 they gained their independence from the Soviet Union
and then they readopted the same flag again.
Also we should address the flag of Åland, Finland's autonomous region
The flag is basically just the Swedish flag, defaced with a second similar red cross over the yellow one
The flag was made official in 1954, even though autonomy was recognised in 1921.
Before this flag, they kinda unofficially used a bi-coloured triband of blue-yellow-blue
Fun little side note:
the Orkney islands in Scotland were like, 'Hey, we like the Nordic countries so much, that we're jumping on this soul train!'
and they made their own flag in 2007 which is basically an inverted version of the Åland flag.
Now for the coat of arms!
The coat of arms of Finland is made up of a red shield, with a crowned lion, brandishing a sword on an armoured arm
trampling on a sabre, with little white roses adorning the rest of the open slots on the shield.
It's an anthropomorphic lion with a metal arm holding a sword...
It's like RoboLion!
For a long time, Finns wanted to replace the lion with a bear
because they were like, 'uhh... isn't that our national animal?'
But they never got around to doing it, so until then... RoboLion stands!
For a brief year in 1917, right after independence, they used a flag that was basically just the coat of arms on a red field
and the state flag is basically just the Nordic cross flag with the coat of arms in the centre of the cross.
Otherwise, yeah... that's about it!
Finland is another Nordic country that follows the Nordic cross pattern on their flag
and they live a very chill life
...literally. It gets pretty chilly there.
This has been Flag Friday, you have just been flagged.
Stay cool, stay tuned!