Fly flags

According to Finnish law, there are official and recommended days for raising the national flag.

To Finnish law, there are official and recommended days for raising the national flag. White-blue cloths soar upward not only on Independence Day, on May Day, on Armed Forces Day or on Election Day, but also to mark the middle of summer, Father's Day, Finnish poetry and many other holidays. By the way, despite the proclaimed equality of the sexes, Father's Day, celebrated in November, refers to the days when raising the flag is recommended, and Mother's Day, celebrated in May, is the official day of the national flag.

Flags are more often not hung out, namely they are raised on high flagpoles. Wall flags can be seen most often only on high-rise buildings in densely populated neighborhoods.

In the majority of individual farmsteads special poles are set up, intended to hoist the national flag on them. The same poles are in the city courtyards, where there is enough space for this. In recent years, flagpoles are increasingly appearing in suburban areas.

In city yards, the caretaker is responsible for raising the flag and removing it, in the private house the owner of the house. Both must comply with certain rules. Ignoring these rules does not threaten punishment, but, nevertheless, they are almost never violated.

First, the flag should be raised in the morning, at about eight o'clock and lowered at sunset - in the summer no later than nine o'clock. The exception is the midsummer holiday (Juhannus). Then white cloths with a blue cross soar upward on the eve of the holiday at 18 o'clock and descend the next day at 21 o'clock.

The flag should be raised as close as possible to the top of the flagpole. When descending, the flag should not fall to the ground, and, moving along the pole, it should not touch any structures or objects. If the flag gets wet, then it is dried indoors, not on an outer clothesline.

There are certain standards regarding the size of the pole and the flag. The flagpole near a private house should be about one and a half times the height of the building; in urban courtyards, it must reach the level of the third floor.

Most often, flagpoles are made of durable plastic and are practically “eternal”. Flags in size correspond to the size of the pole. They are sold by numbers. For example, the number twelve means that this panel is intended for a twelve-meter flagpole.

The most common combination in Finland is a nine-meter pole with a flag of 1.5 x 2.5 meters.

In addition to the national flag in Finland, there are also flags of the Sami people and the flag of the Swedish-speaking Aland Islands. For these flags, there are additional days of recovery.

There is even a special verb in Finnish that means to raise the flag. It can probably be translated into Russian as “flagging”. I must say that the Finns "flag" with obvious pleasure. In addition to the above general holidays, the Finn in his yard often raises the flag for very personal reasons. They can be a wedding, graduation, childbirth, etc. Many owners of private houses and cottages with flag raising welcome their guests.

In all these frequent flag ceremonies, of course, there is a certain national feeling. But it is not the main thing. Finns do not refer to their flag as a battle flag. Just raising the flag makes for each joyful event even more festive and solemn.