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Aaland Islands (Finland)

Ahvenanmaa

by Edward Mooney, Jr., 1997-11-25

Description of the flag
Dimensions of the flag
History of the flag

Description of the flag

The flag of the �land Islands (Finnish: Ahvenanmaa, Swedish: �land) is blue with a red Scandinavian cross fimbriated yellow. Mark Sensen, 1995-NOV-27

Dimensions of the flag

The dimensions of the flag of the �land Islands are 16:3:4:3:26 horizontally and 12:3:4:3:12 vertically. Mark Sensen 1995-SEP-25, James Dignan 1995-SEP-26

History of the flag

When Finland declared independence from Russia in 1917, the �land islanders feared for their Swedish language and culture and mobilized for a reunion with Sweden. In the Middle Ages the �land archipelago was a province of Sweden. Ecclesiastically the islands belonged to the diocese of Abo (Turku) in Finland, and so the province was lost to Russia in 1809. The issue was finally settled by the League of Nations in 1921. The islands were to be a part of Finland, but they were to enjoy autonomy.

However, a flag was not granted until 1954. Unofficially a blue-yellow-blue triband had been in use from 1922. Several versions existed, the dominating one had equal horizontal bands. Another version had a narrower band of yellow - as when the vertical yellow stripe in the cross on the Swedish flag is taken away.

Blue and yellow were naturally the favourite colours, being both the colours of Sweden and the colours of the provincial coat of arms (a golden deer on blue), Therefore, when preparing a design for adoption in the early 1950s, the favoured design was a Scandinavian cross design of a blue field and a yellow and blue cross - that is, the flag of Sweden with an extra blue cross in the middle. This proposal was rejected by the president of Finland as too similar to the Swedish flag. Alternative designs were the old blue-yellow-blue triband, the flag of Finland with an extra yellow cross in the middle, and a design were a red cross was added to the Swedish pattern.

The outcome of the process was the adoption of the blue-yellow- red Scandinavian cross design. This flag was first hoisted on the town hall in the provincial capital Mariehamn 3 April 1954. The red colour was controversial at first, because people felt it lacked a local tradition. However, the colours can be said to come from the provincial coat of arms (blue and yellow - also Sweden's colours) and the colours of the coat of arms of Finland (red and yellow). Also, experts in heraldry have found out that at one point a Swedish king hoisted a flag of exactly the same design.

According to current (1992) legislation pertaining to the flag, the proportions are set as 17:26. The parts are defined as 6-1.5- 2-1.5-6 (hoist), 8-1.5-2-1.5-13 (fly). The colours are described as medium blue, golden yellow and (simply) red. Official flag days are �land Flag Day, the last Sunday of April, and Autonomy Day, 9 June. There is also a provision against the misuse of the flag.

Source: Erik Tudeer and Lars-�yvind Liljestrom: �lands flagga, Mariehamn: Nordens Institut p� �land, 1994, ISBN: 952-90-5534-X (40 pages, 10 colour illustrations mostly of proposed designs)

Jan Oskar Engene, 1995-OCT-22