Today flags are hoisted to honor the Finnish Swedish Heritage Day.
About 300,000 people are living in Finland whose mother tongue is Swedish.
The day was first celebrated in Finland in 1908, on the day of the death of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden; the day when the Swedish empire was founded.
Since 1979, the Finnish Swedish Heritage Day has been an official flag day in Finland.
The Finnish Swedish Heritage Day is celebrated annually on the sixth day of November.
The day was first celebrated in 1908 and the tradition was started by the Swedish People’s Party (SPP). The original idea behind the day was to increase a sense of belonging among the Swedish-speaking population.
Since then, the day has also been aimed at celebrating Finland’s bilingualism and raising the profile of the Swedish language and the Swedish-speaking cultural heritage in Finland in particular.
The day was chosen to mark the death of King Gustav II Adolf on November 6, 1632. The king was killed in the 30-year war. The war is part of the foundation of Sweden’s position as a great power.
