CIRCA - ~1860 🇫🇮 - a blue Nordic cross on a white field

HISTORY: Known as Siniristilippu ("blue-cross flag"), Finnish vessels have flown the 🔎blue ╋━ cross as a merchant ensign

since the 19c to distinguish them from Russian imperial ships.

It was adopted as the nation's flag in 1918 shortly after declaring independence from Russia.

[The state variation can be swallow-tailed ꔪ & includes a square 🟥 heraldic ⛨ coat-of-arms @ the intersection of

the cross; a 🜲 crowned lion 🦁 on a red field, brandishing a 🗡️sword & trampling on a sabre]

VEXILLOLOGY:* Linked to themes of purity & integrity in Finnish cultural narratives;

• The WHITE Field evokes the snow ❄️ that blankets the country all winter, a symbol of unblemished honesty

• The OFF-SET CROSS ╋━ is a Nordic symbol, dating back to medieval banners, first prominent in Denmark🔍 and later used by other Nordic countries like Iceland🔍, as well as in all major Scandinavian🔍 flags such as Sweden's🔍 & Norway's🔍

  (Associated with Norse Christianization in the Viking Age, it originally symbolized faith & divine protection in battle, but is no longer intended to be exclusively religious)

• The BLUE is said to represent Finland's abundant lakes (over 187,000) & sky, signifying depth & tranquility

[The naturalistic interpretations of the colors was 1st articulated in an 1863 poem by Johan Ludvig Runeberg, which described Finland's

"white snow against the blue sky"]

* The STUDY of FLAGS; their history, symbolism, usage, and design. From Latin vexillum - referring to a Roman military standard / flag (from velum= cloth/ covering/sail/curtain

[PIE🔍 root weg = to weave / to cover]) + Greek suffix -logia = study]