Flag of Finland

Country

Flag of Finland uses white field with a blue Nordic cross. Ratio 11:18 and current adoption May 29, 1918.

Hoist Ratio 11:18 Fly

Flag Reference

Flag	Flag of Finland
Entity Type	Country
Official Name	Republic of Finland
Identifier	FI / FIN
Region	Northern Europe

Flag Specifications

Current Adoption	May 29, 1918
First Documented Use	1918
Proportion	11:18
Shape	Rectangle
Colours	White, Blue
Construction	White field with a blue Nordic cross
Common Name	Siniristilippu (the blue cross flag)

Documented Colour Values

Colour	Appearance	HEX	RGB	CMYK
White		#FFFFFF	255, 255, 255	0, 0, 0, 0
Blue		#003580	0, 53, 128	100, 59, 0, 50

Design and Symbolism

White	the snow of the winter.
Blue	the thousands of lakes and the sky.
Nordic cross	Christianity and the shared Nordic identity.
Siniristilippu	The “Blue Cross Flag”, its colours taken from a 19th-century poem about the country’s lakes and snow.

Proportions

Ratio	11:18
Hoist	11 units
Fly	18 units

About the Flag of Finland

White field with a blue Nordic cross The recorded proportion is 11:18. Within this library it is grouped with nordic cross designs.

Colours and construction

The reference palette stored for Finland is White (#FFFFFF) and Blue (#003580). The colour table above is intended for digital reference; where an issuing authority publishes a different colour standard, that specification takes precedence.

Symbols and recorded meaning

Nordic cross: Christianity and the shared Nordic identity; Siniristilippu: The “Blue Cross Flag”, its colours taken from a 19th-century poem about the country’s lakes and snow.

History and adoption record

The design record traces first use to 1918. The adoption field for the present record is May 29, 1918.

Additional flag context

The blue cross on white was chosen in 1918 from competing proposals, some of which favoured red and yellow taken from the Finnish coat of arms.

The state flag adds the coat of arms in the centre of the cross; the plain version is the civil flag.

Finland has a fixed list of official flag days set out in law, including the birthdays of national figures and Midsummer Day, which serves as Flag Day itself.

How to identify this flag

For quick identification, look for White field with a blue Nordic cross, a 11:18 proportion and the visible nordic cross. Use the comparison and design-family links on this page when another flag has a similar palette or layout.

Verification sources

Flags of the World — Finland — Specialist vexillological reference

Other nordic cross flags

See all

Facts about the Flag of Finland

Finland is recorded as white field with a blue Nordic cross.
The reference proportion for the flag of Finland is 11:18.
The stored palette for Finland contains White and Blue.
The adoption field for this country flag record is May 29, 1918.
The design record traces first use to 1918.
Its construction is grouped with the nordic cross design family in this library.
Nordic cross: Christianity and the shared Nordic identity.
Siniristilippu: The “Blue Cross Flag”, its colours taken from a 19th-century poem about the country’s lakes and snow.
The blue cross on white was chosen in 1918 from competing proposals, some of which favoured red and yellow taken from the Finnish coat of arms.
The state flag adds the coat of arms in the centre of the cross; the plain version is the civil flag.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Flag of Finland

What does the flag of Finland look like?

White field with a blue Nordic cross, with a recorded proportion of 11:18.

What proportion is recorded for the flag of Finland?

The reference proportion stored for this flag is 11:18.

Which colours are recorded for the flag of Finland?

The reference palette lists White #FFFFFF and Blue #003580.

What do the symbols on the flag of Finland represent?

Nordic cross — Christianity and the shared Nordic identity. Siniristilippu — The “Blue Cross Flag”, its colours taken from a 19th-century poem about the country’s lakes and snow.

When was the present flag record for Finland adopted?

The adoption field in this record is May 29, 1918.

Which design family does the flag of Finland belong to?

WorldFlags.online groups it with nordic cross designs for visual browsing; that classification describes construction, not necessarily historical ancestry.

Where can I verify information about the flag of Finland?

The verification-source section on this page links to an official, governmental or specialist reference used to check the underlying record. Source wording is not copied into the article.