When there is a flag-raising day, you hoist the flag in the morning and take it down at sunset, or nine o'clock at the latest. The only time when you can keep the flag up all night long is Midsummer night. A lot of people here live in private houses and have their own flagpole, so it is very common to see flags flying. Also when you have a 'big' birthday or some other reason to celebrate in the house (wedding, confirmation, matriculation etc) you can hoist a flag. When someone has died you hoist the flag half way up the pole (at half mast), and do the same thing on funeral day.
5.2. Runeberg´s day. He was our national poet.
28.2. Kalevala´s day. It is our national epic, compiled by Elias Lönnrot
9.4. Agricola´s day. He created the Finnish written language.
27.4. Veteran´s day. We remember our war veterans.
1.5. Valburgis day, or May Day We celebrate our secondary school
graduates.
It is also celebrated as workers' day.
2nd Sunday in May. Mother´s day.We celebrate our mothers.
3rd Sunday in May.Remembrance day. We remember our friends and relatives, who have been killed in action during the war.
4.6. Defence force's flagging day.
22.6. Midsummer. We have parties and a big bonfire, which we have prepared days before.The flag is up all night long.
10.10. Aleksis Kivi's day. He was a very important writer, who lived in the 19th century. His most famous work was 'The seven brothers'
24.10. YK(United Nations)'s day.
6.11. Swedish day. Swedish is our second official language.
2nd Sunday in November Fathers´day. We celebrate our fathers.
6.12. Independence day. Finland became independent
6.12.1917. We light 2 blue-white coloured candles in our windows
at 18.00. and President Ahtisaari invites a few hundred people
to celebrate independence with him.
Assi Ebeling. class 9i
What is independence and what it means to me By Suvi Virtanen, class 8 b
Well what is independence?
It is freedom. It is making solutions without another country
breathing down your neck. Some people don't think it is very
important. And why? Because they haven't had experiences of war and
what it is like to be under another country's control.
I think we should regard independence as a gift and appreciate it.
Because you never know when you could lose it.