The Honourable Finnish Swastika

Original Finnish language article translated into English on February 2007 by Ossi Juntunen

In Finland the Swastika was introduced in the high art included in the frame of the painting ?Aino? by Akseli Gallen-Kallela in 1889, now owned by the Bank of Finland. The Swastika was decorating the Fennia series dishes by Arabia ceramics factory in the age of Art Noveau. The Swastika was first used by the government in 1918, in the Cross of Liberty decoration designed by Gallen-Kallela, and as the national insignia of the Finnish Air Force. Swedish Count Eric von Rosen had donated the first FiAF aircraft, decorated by swastikas painted on the wings. Thus the Swastika was introduced by two sources by two men in two different manifestations. The other national symbols of the young Finnish state included the national coat of arms from the 1500's, the national anthem and the blue cross flag from the year 1918.

The German National Socialist Party, founded in 1919, adopted an ideologically correct red flag with a white roundel including a slanted swastika. The slanted swastika had been since the end of the 1800s the symbol of antisemitists in Germany and Austria. After Hitler took over in 1933 that flag became two years later the German national flag. The tilted Nazi Swastika vanished from view in 1945.

War of Independence breaks out

The Finnish Senate (Cabinet) nominated on the 28.1.1918 Gen.Lt C.G.E.Mannerheim (1867-1951) as the Commander- in-Chief of the legal government troops. The very same day the troops were ordered to disarm the Russian garrisons, foreign troops, in Ostrobothnia. The War of Independence had been started.

Cross and Medals of Liberty

The Cross of Liberty 4th class with swords Memorial medal for the War of Independence

5.1.-29.5.1918

29.5.1918-

After the War of Independence security policy led into an idea of monarchy. The Aviator badge was topped with a crown. The incomplete Parliament (missing its elected Social Democrat MPs, tr.rem) elected in autumn of 1918 a German prince, Friedrich Karl, as the King of Finland. The German imperium collapsed in November 1918, consequently the idea of King of Finland was abandoned. Lather this episode became to be called ?the adventure royal?. The crown in the Aviator badge remained, however, despite the fact that the country became a Republic. Finnish military aviators were consequently actually royals.

The Finnish Aviator badge designed by Gallen-Kallela has dominated ever after. All symbols of military aviation, including flags, are just variations of the master?s theme.

Finnish Aviator Badge recipients

Primarily the Aviator badge was to be awarded to Finnish military airmen: pilots and observers. To be awarded with it you had to have passed the Finnish Observer and Pilot exam, later only the Pilot exam. 12 badges were awarded during the first year. Finnish Aviator Badges basing on this decree were awarded during the years 1918 - 1944 to 1234 pilots and 62 observers.

In the Winter War the volunteer Swedish squadron F19 was based in Northern Finland. Also other volunteers were serving in the ranks of the Finnish Air Force. Consequently 37 foreign volunteers were awarded during and after the war the Finnish Aviator Badge hc (honoris causa).

Aviator Badge rules excluded the observers from being awarded with it. Soon after the Winter War it was found that a number of observers had flown as many missions as the pilots. They numbered 40, and they were awarded the Finnish Aviator badge honoris causa.

Mannerheim never received the Finnish Aviator badge hc. Could it be that Gen. Lundqvist, the commander of the FiAF, did not remember this, or did he stick to the criteria or was it a matter of protocol?

Lotta Svärd organization is set up

Finnish women began their work for their soldiers anonymously when the Civil Guards were set up (in 1917, tr. rem.) Mannerheim mentioned the Lotta Svärds when giving his thanks to the Women?s Representatives during the celebration of the end of War of Independence on 16.5.1918. The first to adopt this name was the Riihimäki local chapter in November 1918. Soon it was found that the activities of local organizations must be nationally unified by creating an organization with a single set of rules. Representatives of local Lotta Svärds met in Helsinki in the Officer Mess on 22. - 23.3.1921 to accept the rules. The National Lotta Svärd ?organization had been set up. Membership could be applied for women over 17 years in age.

Young girls wanted to join; in 1931 ten-year olds were accepted, since 1934 eight-year olds.

The political Left did not approve of the Civil Guard nor the Lottas. The ordeal of the Winter War changed the attitudes for a while. On the 15. February 1940 took place so called ?February betrothal? (employers recognized trade unions as legitimate negotiation partners, tr.rem.) Union of Woman Worker told their members that each organization shall accept the members of the other one and those social democratic women who were interested in defence task could become lottas. The number of members increased. In 1926 there were 581 local organizations with a total of 40 000 members, the figures for end 1943 were 144 000 active members, 28 000 sympathizers and 49 000 lotta girls. At the date of disbanding there were 242 000 members.

The activities and training provided by the organization responded to the circumstances. It was divided into sections: Equipment and collecting section, proviant supply section, medical section, office and communications section. Searchlight lottas were assisting the air defence during the war. Lotta girls, being underage, had their own section.

The name of the organization was written originally thus: Lotta-Svärd. This is the spelling in the Lotta badge. The badge used in death notices is consequently slightly faulty due to the missing dash.

Lotta badge

Vasström's Lotta badge, the insignia of the organization

Gallen-Kallela's suggestion

Badge of the Lotta girls, 1933

Any large organization must have a common symbol, badge and flag. The designing task was handed over to Gallen-Kallela. It was received but the central directorate did not like it, however. Another design was requested from artist Eric Vasström. His design was basing on a Swastika. He cut the swastika arms and placed heraldic roses in the freed corners. Vasström?s design was approved by the C-in-C of the Civil Guards, Col.Lt. Lauri Malmberg. The badge was worn on the lapel of the Lotta dress with a safety needle. Its dimensions are 27 x 27 mm. Smaller ones were awarded after 10 and 20 years of duty. The Merit Cross was worn in a glue-grey striped ribbon, and the Merit Medal in a blue-white striped ribbon.

Lotta girls had their own badge since 1933, it is a silver washed heraldic rose with blue center.

Lotta ensign

Riihimäki local organization donated in 1922 to the central directorate a white ensign with the Lotta badge in center. Three years later it was adopted as the organization ensign. The badge and the ensign were to be the common symbol for thousands and thousands Finnish woman working for the good of the fatherland. Their work continued for about 23 years.


Lotta-Svärd North Häme district ensign being dedicated in Tampere in the year 1926.

Lotta organization is disbanded

After the armistice it was not a surprise that the Cabinet disbanded the Lotta organization. This happened on 23.11.1944 with the motivation that the organization had been co-operating with the Civil Guard – disbanded on 6.11.1944 according to the stipulations of the Armistice. The badge and the flag became history. The badge is seen, however, in death notices reminding us about the hard years of honour and about the Lottas who served their fatherland.

Before disbanding a considerable share of the organization property was successfully transferred to other organizations corresponding to the spirit of the old organization. One of them was the Finnish Women’s Relief Foundation set up for the purpose.

At the initiative of Mr.Jorma Jarvi and under the Memorial Foundation for the Invalids of the War of Independence a national Lotta memorial medal committee confirmed in 1993 the rules of the memorial medal for Lottas and Lotta girls. The medal is awarded by the Memorial Foundation for the Invalids of the War of Independence. The round medal comprises a copy of the blue swastika of the Lotta badge with a silver rose in center. It is worn on a blue-white striped ribbon along with any other decorations and memorial medals of the 1939-1945 wars.

Finnish Women’s Relief Foundation Renamed to Lotta Svärd Foundation

The political atmosphere changed in the course of the time; war veterans and Lottas regained their appreciation. In 2004, 60 after the Lotta-Svärd organization had been disbanded, it was time for a renaming. The board of the Finnish Women’s Relief Foundation led by chairwoman Mrs. Irmeli Lemberg decided to adopt the name Lotta Svärd Foundation. The name change application was approved in the National Board of Patents and Registrations of Finland on 29.6.2004.

The task of the foundation is to rehabilitate and assist old Lottas and maintain the Lotta traditions, for example by supporting the Syväranta Lotta Museum in Tuusula.

Anti Aircraft and Swastika

The Anti-aircraft Artillery as a branch of arms was set up in Suomenlinna under the coastal artillery in 1925. The insignia was that of the coastal artillery, crossed cannon barrels. After transfer to Viipuri under field artillery the unit grew into a battalion and the insignia was added an exploding bomb symbol on the crossing of the cannon barrels. The AA Regiment became a part of the air defence in 1934 and in the insignia was added a swastika below the cannon barrels and the bomb. AA artillery became a part of the Air Force on 1.1.1939. The insignia was in use until end March 1945 when the Swastika was eliminated from use in the FiAF.

Swastika becomes a problem

The armistice between Finland and Soviet Union was effected on the 4-5.Sept. 1944. The war was ended by an interim peace treaty signed in Moscow on 19.9.1944. According to its stipulations The Allied Control Commission in Helsinki was to follow the execution of the treaty conditions until the final peace treaty would be effected. FiAF and AA was controlled by Gen.Maj. A.P. Andrejev assisted by more than ten other officers. His counterparties were the FiAF commander Gen.Lt. J.F. Lundqvist and Col. K.W. Janarmo.

The Allied Control Commission members were perplexed by the fact that the FiAF kept flying "under the swastika", the swastika, that had made itself impossible as a Nazi symbol. Gen. Andrejev presented the matter like this, completely unofficially and personally to Gen. Lundqvist and Col. Janarmo during their meeting in Hotel Torni (the ACC HQ, tr.rem.), on 21.2.1945. Vae victis, explaining the history of the symbol, that it had arrived painted on the wings of the aircraft donate by von Rosen, and that it had become the national insignia by order of Gen. Mannerheim as early as March 1918, did not have any effect.

New national emblem and aviator badge

Consequently at the proposition of the commander of the FiAF the commander of the Finnish Defence Force submitted to the President of the Republic on 8.3.1945 to be decreed that the national emblem of the FiAF would be starting 1.4.1945 a blue-white roundel, corresponding the military cockade. Simultaneously with the removal of the previous national emblem, all other FiAF symbols including the swastika motif were deleted. The decree was a military matter, concerning only the FiAF. The fact was that Mannerheim, ordering in 1918 the swastika as the FiAF national emblem, would now have to remove it. However, Mannerheim was incapacitated by illness, so prime minister Paasikivi did the dirty work as stand-in for the president. Fighting against Germany was going on in ravaged Lapland, war refugees had not yet been settled, war reparations were coming due, the guilty ones for the war were to be prosecuted, the domestic political situation was tense and The Allied Control Commission was making their presence felt. One of the national symbols vanished without much ado, but only from the FiAF use. The political realities prevailed.

The Finnish aviator badge and the almost similar aviation radioman badge were taken out of use. Maj. Olavi Seeve designed new ones for pilots, observers and radio operators. The President of the Republic approved them on 30.7.1945. The badges are modified from Gallen-Kallela’s design: the crown and the horizontal wings remain, the swastika is replaced by a hawk, on the radio operator badge by a lightning. The military aviators of the republic are still today royals.

The crown in the aviator badge is the only reminder of the adventure royal of 1918 as the rump parliament elected a German, the prince of Hessen, Friedrich Karl, as the king of Finland.

At the initiative of one single member of the Allied Control Commission the swastika of FiAF and AA units disappeared. But it remained on tanks, the Cross of Liberty and also in the chain of the Grand Cross of the White Rose. It survives as a state symbol.

Swastika and tanks

Finnish tanks received the national insignia – blue and white stripes round the turret - not until during the Winter War. A new insignia, black-white swastika with short arms, was adopted on 21.6.1941 after the outbreak of the continuation war. It was decreed to be 325 x 325 mm in size and shadowed with white.

The Allied Control Commission followed the removal of the FiAF swastika. The tank swastika did not appear to bother Andrejev. It was replaced by the roundel not until1.8.1945. Did Gen. Andrejev finally just grudge the record of the Finnish Swastika, the success of Finnish airmen and AA gunners in the skies of the war? After all, to his surprise he had found Helsinki quite well preserved although Soviet airmen had been amply decorated for her destruction?

Change in political environment

Stalin died on 5. March 1953. Spring 1955 Soviet Union informed to be willing to make a pact with the occupied Austria. It was a harbinger of a new phase in international politics. President Paasikivi was invited to Moscow where he arrived on 15.9.1955. The visit was historical. It was announced that the occupied Porkkala enclave would be returned to Finland. The president of Soviet Union Klement Voroshilov, the commander of the Soviet troops in the Winter War, was awarded the Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland including a swastika chain. In August next year Voroshilov made an official visit to Finland and in accordance with protocol wore the Grand Cross with its chain. It was a proof of acceptance. It implied that our swastika was acceptable in foreign politics. It was a signal, official attitudes changed, also concerning the swastika. Many matters concerning the war and the peace treaty could now be discussed and decided. Finnish troops marched in Porkkala on 25.1.1956.

It was paradoxal that Paasikivi placed the Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland with its chain of swastikas on the shoulders of the president of the Soviet Union: it was Paasikivi who ten years earlier as the deputy president of the republic had signed the order to abandon the FiAF swastika to promote relationships in the Eastern direction.

The Air Force receives its ensign

One year after Voroshilov’s visit president Kekkonen approved in November 1957 the designs of the five FiAF ensigns. They were made by heraldician Olof Eriksson basing on the sketch by Olavi Seeve. The solemn dedication took place next year in the Senate Square, Helsinki during the parade of the Defence Force anniversary. The ensign comprises on blue background a black level swastika surrounded in a ring by six white bird wings flying counterclockwise. The motif is copied from the Finnish Aviator Badge with the crown removed. The Heraldic Committee had reviewed the ensigns and called the crown a rose leaf crown, suggesting it should be removed as unheraldic. The advice was followed. The FiAF ensigns carry on the tradition of 1918 adapted to the republican rule...

Memorial crosses and medals

FiAF received their memorial cross for unofficial awarding in 1956, soon after Voroshilov’s visit. The decoration consists of a St. George’s cross superimposed by a gilded swastika. The status of the memorial cross became official next year as the Memorial Cross Commission, led by Infantry Gen. E.Heinrichs, proposed the rules for the memorial crosses and medals of the Finnish wars 1939-1945. President Kekkonen approved on 3.12.1957. The rules stipulate that the memorial crosses are worn alongside decorations. The president also decided that the Brotherhood of the Invalids of the War of Independence would have the responsibility of awarding and controlling them.

The confirmed memorial crosses include the GHQ Cross which resembles a swastika superimposed with a gilded lion. The veterans of the Commando Battalion 4, which was under the direct command of the GHQ, carry that cross with a swastika on the ribbon – reminding that the FiAF transported and supplied the patrols of the battalion operating in the enemy rear. There are a number of crosses and medals featuring either the Cross of Liberty, as the badge of War Invalids, or the FiAF swastika. Also the steel ring decorated with FiAF swastika remains in record. It was given in replacement to those who wanted to donate a gold ring to support acquisition of aircraft for the FiAF.

Memorial medals for the Winter War and Continuation War

The reason for swastika removal

The decoration granted to Voroshilov was the third Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland granted to a foreign head of state after the second world war. French president, Gen. Charles de Gaulle, was the eleventh to receive the Grand Cross with its swastika chain, as president Kekkonen handed it over to him in Paris during a state visit end October 1962. Kekkonen told in a private letter 15 years later that de Gaulle appeared to be distressed by the chain and had attempted to cover it up under his other decorations. This gave the impetus to remove the swastika from the chain of the Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland. The proof from the state visit consists of a photo taken by Mr. Kalle Kultala. In it Gen. de Gaulle is wearing the Grand Cross with its chain during a dinner in honour of president Kekkonen in the Elyseé palace, but the chain was under the jacket of the French general, so that only a couple of the chain swastikas together with the cross were visible.

The wish of the President of the republic to replace the swastika was expressed more than six months after his visit in Paris and a fortnight after visiting Tito. Why did Kekkonen hesitate to express his wish for more than half a year? He was uncertain!

Two presidents, Kekkonen and De Gaulle, at the Elyse palace.

In the course of the time new people took over. After Minister Rekola became the chancellor of the Orders, Mr.Sunell repeated his proposal in 1989. It was successful. Next year the Grand cross with its swastika chain returned to Paris. It can be seen among the General’s other decorations in the Liberation Museum in Paris. The slow process of the matter was the fault of the Finns, not French. The speech of reception showed that the French knew exactly what the matter was.

Swastika in Europe and USA

During Stalin’s reign in Soviet union there occurred crimes against humanity in large scale. The estimated number of victims varies between 15-30 million. But their fate and that of many other minorities lacking a spokesperson were forgotten as the victors of the second world war began to write the history and their verdict of the war. The first step was the Nurnberg trials in autumn 1945. The main prosecutor was Mr. Robert Jackson from the U.S. The central issue was the persecution of Jews. The Nazi swastika had been the emblem of the enemy, and now their leaders were tried, found guilty and sentenced for genocide of six million Jews under a swastika.

Anti-Semitism is of ancient origin. The Christian church joined the haters already during the early phases of papacy. The Nazis were by no means the first haters. Anti-Semitism was a common European phenomenon. In Finland, too, Jews gained full civil rights only after the War for Independence. What was unprecedented was the wide scale of the systematic genocide of Jews as the Nzzis, under their flag featuring a black tilted swastika were occupying nearly every country in Europe, subjecting many a self-conscious nation under their power. The national pride of occupied countries had been compromised. The fate of Jews was not the topmost idea in their minds. The common opinion in the U.S. was different. There was a heterogeneous but very influential Jewish ethnic group. They were concerned with the fate of their brothers in faith. These are the reasons why the swastika became hated, banned, shunned by many even today. The Germans were traumatized. There the display of the swastika is forbidden by law.

The matter did not concern us Finns in the same manner. We had been co-belligerents with Germans for nearly three and a half years and we had received many kinds of aid from them. In accordance with the conditions of the armistice we turned our arms against the Germans, and Lapland was devastated – but our national pride was not compromised. We kept considering the sickle and the hammer as a menace.

Swastika and Kekkonen

President Kekkonen’s attitude to the swastika appears to have been vacillating. He approved the design of the FiAF 1957 ensigns, which implied that the order of 1945 was cancelled. Yet five years later he suggested that the swastika be removed from the chain of the Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland and of course his was carried out. A bow in the Western direction maybe? Another four years and again the swastika was acceptable. He approved of swastika patterned badges for the FiAF HQ and Air War School.

Our swastika today

The Finnish swastika became a national symbolin March 1918. It has had an unblemished and dignified status from the very beginning. The swastika of German and Austrian antisemitists became the Nazi symbol in 1919. Its origins were inconspicuous, its significance grew in political storms, it gained its national status not until 1935 to vanish ten years later in defeat.

The dust has settled. Yet there are among us still a number of andrejevs, who are either ignorant of the historical facts or ignore them. They keep living in the political past and see something to abhor in our swastika. But our swastika survives in our Liberty Cross, FiAF ensigns and shoulder badges. It is also daily seen in the Lotta badge in death notices. The swastika that became one of our national symbols at the dawn our independence is appreciated. It is missing only in FiAF aircraft and the chain of the Grand Cross. By restauration we could re-introduce also there the unblemished symbol, undefeated in war, but vanquished in peace. The swastika of the year 1918 would then have regained its original status as one of our national symbols.


Coat of arms of Von Rosen

President Kekkonen dedicated the first five FiAF unit ensigns in 1958

President of the Republic Urho Kekkonen confirmed the design of the FiAF unit ensigns on 8.11.1957. The ensigns were dedicated and handed over on 4.6.1958.

The ensigns were created by a competition among the FiAF personnel. The principle of design was to create a template ensign with customized symbols for each unit. The final designer is artist Olof Eriksson basing his work on the proposition of Col. Olavi Seeve.

The background colour of the ensign is naturally sky blue, the environment of aircraft. The central symbol refer to the oldest traditions of our relatively young branch of arms: the swastika, that was the emblem of the first Finnish military aircraft, later the emblem of all Finnish military aircraft until 1945, and the wing motive surrounding the swastika, adopted from the aviator’s badge designed by Gallen-Kallela and being in use until 1945.
Lähde: FiAF

President Kekkonen dedicates the flags of the Air Force at Senaatintori on 4.6.1958. The commander of the Finnish Defence Forces, general Leinonen, on right.

Häme Air Command	Carelia Air Command	Satakunta Air Command
Air Force Communications Battalion	Air Force Academy

Later ensigns and other symbols

After the dedication of ensigns in 1958 the names of the units have been changed alongside with their ensigns.
New ensigns share the composition, only the symbols in the left top corner have been replaced.

President Halonen receiving on 4.10.2005 a new FiAF ensign, the Air War College ensign after the bishop’s blessing.

Lapland Air Command ensign

Transport Squadron

Reconnaissance Squadron

The swastika designed by Gallen-Kallela swastika still adorns the Finnish presidential flag.

FiAF HQ badge.

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Ateneumin julkaisu no 1, sivu 163, Hki 1996, Gallen-Kallelan näyttelyluettelo
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Kansallis- ja sota-arkistoa käytetty
Keskustelut useiden avainasemassa olleiden henkilöiden kanssa

Written in Tapiola, Jan 2003
Updated April 2006
Translated into English on February 2007 by Ossi Juntunen

Written by Mr.Ellilä, bomber aviator of the Continuation War.

Aarne Ellilä was born in Mänttä 11.6 1923 as a son to an engineer. The family moved to Lievestuore in 1928, where the son started his school. They moved to Helsinki in 1934 where he continued in high school no.V, matriculating in 1942.
He volunteered for military, serving as a private in field artillery from July 1941, 2nd Lieutenant 1942 having graduated from Officer Course no.55, fire control officer at Svir front, transfer to FiAF as bomber observer in 1943, flew 24 missions in Bomber Squadron 42, military rank: Senior Lieutenant.
After the war Mr. Ellilä began to study chemistry in University of Helsinki. He graduated in 1949 and completed his doctoral dissertation in 1953. He then continued in the Chemistry faculty as researcher from 1949 to 1955. Then he was employed by Oy Filter Ab, designing water treatment systems e.g. for Oulu Oy 1959, Kemijärvi, Typpi Oy, Sunila Oy, Enso-Gutzeit Oy Kaukopää, and for export, too. He retired as the managing director in 1986.
Mr. Ellilä started his model plane hobby in 1935, and at the same time he picked up figure skating; in it he gained three national junior championships. After the war he continued his hobby as an international referee. He was one of the founders of the Finnish Figure Skating Association and its first vice chairman.
His interest in aviation was sparked by flying model planes since 1935. Mr.Ellilä was among the best of the Nordic countries in the Wakefield class in 1939. He won a competition in Cranfield, England 1949 and again next year in Jämijärvi, Finland. In 1952 this competition series gained the status of world championship. After the war Mr. Aarne Ellilä has been the chairman or vice-chairman of the associations of veterans of Field Artillery Regiment 8, Squadron 42 and Officer Course 55.

Viimeksi muokattu: 2007-02-18 12:19