Finland’s Air Force, now aligned with NATO, continues to display swastikas on a few of its unit flags. However, plans are in motion to eventually retire these symbols to sidestep potential discomfort among its Western partners.
The use of the swastika by the Finnish Air Force stretches back to a time long before the emblem became synonymous with Nazi Germany, dating back to its adoption as an ancient symbol. The Air Force began using it well before Nazi Germany emerged.
Efforts to update the imagery have been ongoing. A few years back, the swastika was discreetly removed from the Air Force Command’s emblem. Despite this, the symbol still appears on certain flags of the Finnish Air Force, which has occasionally raised concerns among NATO allies, tourists, and other international observers during military events.
Colonel Tomi Böhm, the new leader of the Karelia Air Wing air defense force, mentioned in a report by public broadcaster YLE that while the flag could have been retained, it sometimes led to uncomfortable situations with visitors from abroad. He suggested that adapting to the times was a prudent decision.
Challenges for a Recent NATO Entrant
The Defense Forces communicated via email to The Associated Press that a plan to renew the Air Force unit flags commenced in 2023, coinciding with Finland’s entry into NATO. However, they clarified that the update was not directly related to the NATO membership but aimed to refresh the flags’ symbols to better reflect the Air Force’s current identity.
This initiative was reported by the daily Helsingin Sanomat, which noted that the swastika was increasingly viewed as an uncomfortable symbol in international settings.
Finland, sharing a lengthy border with Russia, joined NATO in April 2023, driven by security concerns following Russia’s extensive military actions in Ukraine.
Professor Teivo Teivanen of world politics at the University of Helsinki, pointed out that the flags under discussion were first introduced in the 1950s and are currently used by four Air Force units. He mentioned that the Finnish public and the Air Force have long maintained that their swastikas have no ties to the Nazi symbol. Teivanen, who recently published a book on the history of the swastika in Finnish, noted that integration with NATO necessitated closer alignment with nations like Germany, the Netherlands, and France, where the swastika is decidedly viewed negatively.
Teivanen recounted an incident in 2021 when German Air Force units opted out of a closing ceremony at a military base in Finland’s Lapland after discovering that Finnish swastikas would be displayed.
A Century-Old Symbol
The swastika was adopted by Finland’s Air Force in 1918, shortly after the nation gained independence following over a century under Imperial Russian rule. The symbol was first introduced on Finland’s inaugural military aircraft, a gift from Count Eric von Rosen of Sweden, who used the swastika as his personal emblem.
Following this, the Finnish Air Force adopted a blue swastika against a white backdrop as the national insignia on all its aircraft from 1918 until 1945. The symbol persisted on some unit flags and decorations, as well as the Air Force Academy insignia, long after World War II.
However, the connection to Nazi Germany is not entirely absent. Von Rosen, an aristocratic explorer and ethnographer, was the brother-in-law of Hermann Goering, a prominent World War I German fighter pilot and early member of the Nazi Party, who later led the Luftwaffe under Hitler. Although Finland formed a reluctant alliance with Nazi Germany during World War II, the Finnish Air Force has emphasized that its use of the swastika was unrelated to the Nazis.
The Defense Forces announced that new flags featuring an eagle emblem will be unveiled once ready, to be used in parades and local ceremonies, though no specific timeline was provided. They noted that the traditional Von Rosen swastika emblem, in use since 1918, had already been phased out from most other Air Force emblems in previous reforms, making its removal from the unit flags a consistent next step.
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Jamal Peterson reports on defense, aerospace, and tech policy. With a military background and a strategic mind, he dissects complex subjects with clarity, offering readers sharp, reliable insights.
