Proposals for flag days and the processing of proposals by the Ministry

When proposing new flag days, citizens should bear in mind that they are entitled to fly the flag if they so desire. All citizens have the right to fly the national flag, if there is a reason for doing so, even on dates not stated in the calendar. Only at night it is absolutely prohibited to fly the flag. When flying the flag, citizens must comply with the prescribed times.

Proposing new flag days

Each year, the Ministry of the Interior receives proposals for new flag days in relation to a number of worthy causes. In most cases, proposals for new flag days have taken a long time to process, as the Ministry considers whether there is a need to create a new flag day.

When considering the matter, the Ministry seeks to take account of the position adopted by the Committee on the Finnish Flag in the 1970s, based on which themes for new flag days should be acceptable to as many citizens as possible, in order to make flag flying seem natural. In addition, to avoid excessive flag flying and rising costs, there should not be too many flag days.

Well-grounded proposals for flag days may be submitted to the Ministry's Registry.

From a proposal to a national flag day in the calendar

The process of having a flag day added to the calendar often begins with the Ministry recommending that the flag be flown annually on that day, as in the case of Finnish Nature Day and Miina Sillanpää Day. The Ministry recommended that the flag be flown on both days for the first time in 2017, and the days will be designated as flag days in the calendar in 2023. 

When the Ministry of the Interior has recommended over several consecutive years that the flag be flown, the Ministry may make a proposal to the University of Helsinki Almanac Office about entering the day as a designated flag day in the calendar drawn up by the University. Over the course of the 2000s, the Ministry of the Interior has made five proposals to the University of Helsinki Almanac Office for new flag days to be added to the calendar.

• Minna Canth Day, on 19 March, was included in the calendar for the first time in 2007.
• Jean Sibelius' birthday, on 8 December, was included in the calendar for the first time in 2011.
• In 2015, the Ministry proposed that the Day of Children’s Rights be entered in the calendar as a designated flag day. The Day of Children’s Rights was in the calendar for the first time in 2020.
• In 2023, the calendar had two new, designated flag days: Finnish Nature Day on the last Saturday of August, and Miina Sillanpää Day and Day of Civic Participation on 1 October.
• In addition, the University of Helsinki adopted Europe Day as a new flag day in 2011, after the Ministry of the Interior had been proposing it for several years.