Finland to remove swastikas from military flags

Blue swastikas on white backgrounds have appeared on the flags of Finnish Air Force units since 1918, a design that officials stress bears no relation to the infamous Nazi "Hakenkreuz" symbol. Authorities in Finland have now chosen to gradually retire these emblems to avoid “awkwardness” with Western allies as the Nordic nation integrates more deeply into NATO.

The Finnish Air Force first adopted the swastika emblem in 1918, shortly after Finland declared independence following more than a century under Imperial Russian rule, with an article by AP pointing out this occurred decades before Nazi Germany came into existence.

In a response to The Associated Press, the Defence Forces explained that a project to update unit flags began in 2023—the same year Finland joined NATO—while clarifying that the move was unrelated to accession.

The stated objective was “to update the symbolism and emblems of the flags to better reflect the current identity of the Air Force.”

This came after an article in Finnish media outlet Helsingin Sanomat revealing that the decision to remove the emblem stemmed from perceptions of the swastika as an “embarrassing symbol in international contexts.”

For years, both the Air Force and much of the Finnish public maintained that their swastikas “have nothing to do with the Nazi swastika,” according to Teivo Teivanen, a professor of world politics at the University of Helsinki and author of the newly released Finnish-language book “History of the Swastika.”

The transition has been ongoing for some time. The Air Force Command’s emblem quietly lost its swastika a few years ago.

Still, swastikas remain on several flags, often drawing attention from NATO partners, tourists, and others at official ceremonies.

How the swastika went from sacred symbol to invoking fear

The swastika as a geometric symbol dates back thousands of years and was long viewed as a sign of good fortune across many cultures. According to research published on EBSCO, the symbol had been discovered in archaeological finds ranging from African pottery, ceramics in Bulgaria several millennia BC, the Zoroastrian culture to Chinese temples.

In the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, swastika translates to “well-being.” Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains have used it for millennia.

Inspired by these associations, early Western travellers brought the symbol home, and by the early 20th century, it had become a popular good luck emblem.

In “The Swastika: Symbol Beyond Redemption?” US design historian Steven Heller documents its widespread Western use on architecture, advertisements, and product design before its appropriation by the Nazis.

By Nazrin Sadigova