The Independence Day of FinlandThe Independence

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The Independence Day of Finland is tomorrow, December 6th. In this blog post, we take a look at the Finnish Independence Day celebrations. We’ll try to explain why they are the way they are, quite solemn and subdued.

Why December 6th?
In November 1919, the government of Finland decided that the country would celebrate its independence on December 6th. On this date in 1917, the Finnish parliament accepted the declaration of independence by the Finnish government.

The decision on a date was a France Email List part of the larger nation-building efforts of the time. In May 1918, the parliament, for example, had chosen the blue and white flag as the Finnish flag.

The government chose the December 6th date partly because the date was uncontroversial. Both sides of the Finnish civil war of 1918 had proposed their dates. If the government had chosen one of those, the Independence Day of Finland would be either May 16 or November 15.

From the beginning, Independence Day was a day off in schools, government institutions, and offices. It became an official day off for everybody in 1929.

Public Independence Day traditions
Many of the Independence Day traditions started already in the early years of independence. Some have even earlier roots but have since been associated with the Independence Day of Finland.

The Independence Day celebrations in Finland are dominated by official events. These events are very visible in the national news media.

The National Broadcasting Company Yle shows the ecumenical independence day church services on tv. Similarly, the parade of the Finnish Defence Forces is on tv. The newspapers publish lists of people to whom the President of Finland has granted honors, or promoted in the Defence Forces.

The biggest event of the day is the Independence Day Reception of the President of Finland. That is also televised. We’ll talk more about that a little later on.



One visible event happens in Finnish university cities. Students march with their white hats and lit torches in their independence-day parades. In Helsinki, the march begins at the Hietalahti cemetery at 5 pm. It passes the Presidential Palace and ends at the Senate Square about 6 pm.


Students getting ready of their Independence Day parade in 1970 (Photo by Kari Hakli, photo N50555 of the Helsinki City Museum)
Other torch marches
Over the last five years or so, students have not been the only ones to march with torches on Independence Day.

A few years back, the 612-march entered the scene. The march was called patriotic (the organizers), nationalistic (media), or fascist (anti-fascist groups) depending on who you ask. The 612-march organizers define their march as politically nonaligned. Despite this claimed non-alignment, the march is usually advertized mainly on right-wing populist and far-right websites and forums. The participants include people with right-wing populist and far-right leanings and also neo-nazis.

Neo-Nazis have also had their own march in the past few years. The organization behind the previous neo-Nazi marches has now been banned in Finland, but in 2019 they tried organizing marches under a different organization. The police didn’t grant a permit for this new march because of its clear association with the banned organization.