Last modified: 2003-09-27 by
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![[Flag for the Swedish speaking population in Finland]](../images/f/fi-sespo.gif)
Jan Oskar Engene
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The flag has a red field and yellow cross.
Jan Oskar Engene, 10 March 1996
The flag mentioned by Andersson, red field and yellow cross, is based on the colours of the arms of Finland. It has been in use since before Finland's independence in 1917, and was considered for a national flag before the white and blue flag was adopted. It is supposedly still in use. However, my Swedish-Finnish colleague at work was unable to confirm this. He did say, however, that the colours are frequently used on pennants.
Jan Oskar Engene, 10 March 1996
The above flag (red, yellow Scandinavian cross), which you describe as being that of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland, is unknown to my Finnish friends.
On the other hand it is very much the flag of Scania, "Skåneland" in Swedish, composed of the three most southern provinces of Sweden (Blekinge, Skåne and Halland), and the Danish island of Bornholm (with its own flag that is red with a green cross), being mostly - and widely - used in the southernmost Swedish province, Skåne.
It is the combination of the Danish red flag with the Swedish yellow cross, a reminder of the fact that these provinces were part of Denmark until 1658.
For more information see the Flag of Scania site.
An identical flag was also used by the Quisling government in Norway during the German occupation.
The red-and-yellow flag is believed to be the oldest of the Scandinavian cross flags, in that it was the flag of the archbishop of Lund (then in Denmark, now in Sweden), who as of 1104 was the spiritual leader of all the Nordic countries. It was then reintroduced in the 1870s by the Weibull brothers, who chose it because of the colour combination, which united Denmark and Sweden, and also reflected the colours of the City of Malmó and the CoA of Skåne.
See (in Danish) Foreningan Skånsk Fremtid.
J. Christer Elfverson, 17 August 2002
Some may still believe the Scanian flag to be medieval and to have been the flag of the archbishop of Lund, but this bit of speculation has never been substantiated. See the updated version of the presentation of the Scanian flag on the FOTW site. And disregard the link above, to an outdated presentation of this flag by the Danish organisation Skaansk Fremtid (Scanian Future). Their latest and more sober version is to be found at http://www.skaanskfremtid.dk/.
Lars Roede, 19 August 2002
The flag (red, yellow Scandinavian cross) is unknown to my Finnish friends.
On the other hand it is very much the flag of Scania, "Sk&oring;neland" in Swedish, composed of the three most southern provinces of Sweden (Blekinge, Sk&oring;ne and Halland), and the Danish island of Bornholm (with its own flag that is red with a green cross), being mostly - and widely - used in the southernmost Swedish province, Skåne.
It is the combination of the Danish red flag with the Swedish yellow cross, a reminder of the fact that these provinces were part of Denmark until 1658.
An identical flag was also used by the Quisling government in Norway during the German occupation.
J Christer Elfverson, 17 August 2002
It might indeed be the case that many Swedish-speaking Finns have no knowledge of this flag. A telling example of this appeared in a couple of articles in the newspaper Vasabladet in June 1999. The newspaper reported a proposal, made by one of the delegates at the 1999 annual convention of the Swedish People's Party, that a flag in yellow with a red cross be adopted as the flag of the Swedish speaking Finns. This triggered the reaction from various people who reminded the public that a flag was already in existence: Red with a yellow cross. I suppose this episode demonstrates that even a politically active Swedish speaking Finns did not know of the flag, which might be an indication that the flag is now in rather limited use.
For the news stories (in Swedish), see: http://195.236.208.10/nyheter/990601/nyhet6.html or http://195.236.208.10/nyheter/990602/nyhet3.html Jan Oskar Engene, 20 August 2002
Finland has a Swedish speaking community making up about 6% of the total population. Swedish is recognized as an official language on par with Finnish.