Top Home > Library > Travel > Regional StatsClick to enlarge flag of FinlandIntroduction
   Background:
   Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the
   12th to the 19th centuries, and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia
   after 1809. It won its complete independence in 1917.
  
   The current flag of Finland was officially adopted in May of 1918. 
   This design is modeled after the flag of Sweden, the country from
   which Finland gained independence in the early 1800s.  The design
   features a blue Scandinavian cross on a white flag.