Hype for the Future 87F: Nordic Crosses and Cultural Significances

Introduction

The Nordic cross flag design is predominantly associated with the countries and regions of Finland 🇫🇮, Sweden 🇸🇪, Norway 🇳🇴, Denmark 🇩🇰, Iceland 🇮🇸, the Åland Islands 🇦🇽, and the Faroe Islands 🇫🇴. However, Nordic cross flag designs also exist for regional flags such as the Norwegian flag of Trøndelag or the Scottish Counties of Orkney and Shetland.

Nordic Cross Definition

The Nordic cross refers to the cross that symbolizes Christianity in the flag of Denmark and in all flags derived from the Danish flag design. The colors may vary based on the particular nation; however, every nation provides a clear and distinct approach to identical flag designs as appropriate for representing the nations in question.

Nordic Colors, Outer to Inner

• Denmark: Red, white
• Norway: Red, white, blue
• Sweden: Blue, yellow
• Finland: White, blue
• Iceland: Blue, white, red
• Åland Islands: Blue, yellow, red
• Faroe Islands: White, blue, red
• Shetland Islands: Blue, white
• Orkney Islands: Red, yellow, blue

Hype for the Future 87D: Finland 🇫🇮 vs. the Åland Islands 🇦🇽

Introduction

Though the Åland Islands 🇦🇽 are officially part of Finland, the territory is actually more autonomous from the Finnish mainland communities, with the autonomous scope served by the community of Mariehamn. On the mainland, the capital city of the nation is Helsinki, with Estonia on the opposite side of the associated gulf.

Finnish vs. Swedish

While the Finnish language is obviously associated with Finland, the Swedish language is actually another official language that Finns are entitled to, especially in the southwestern portion of the nation including Bothnia and surrounding territories. Further west, the Åland Islands are firmly Swedish by nature, though under the modern sovereignty of Finland, with the overall region representing the vast majority of the Swedish-speaking Finns, not to be confused with the Meänkieli-speaking Swedes or the Kven-speaking Norwegians.

Hype for the Future 87C: The Åland Islands 🇦🇽

Introduction

Though part of Finland 🇫🇮, the autonomous territory of the Åland Islands 🇦🇽 is most notable for the majority of the population speaking Swedish, making the Finnish language a minority throughout the scope of the territory. Even on the mainland, regions around Bothnia on the southwestern edge of Finland (Suomi) are associated primarily with the Swedish language, making Finnish a minority language.

Åland

The capital of the Åland Islands specifically is located at Mariehamn, which may initially sound more like a Swedish name than Finnish, because of the Swedish heritage associated with Åland. Relative to the Helsinki area and mainland Finland in general, the Åland Islands are significantly to the west, beyond the mainland region of Bothnia and approaching Sweden.

Hype for the Future 86O: The Sámi Peoples

Overview

While Finland is most often identified by the southern region of the nation, the northern side is actually home to a larger portion of the Sámi people, whose homelands overlap with the areas in which the Finnish language (Sámi) is typically called Meänkieli as in Sweden or Kven as in Norway.

Hype for the Future 86N: The Kildin Sámi

Overview

The Kildin Sámi have ended up on the Kola Peninsula of Russia, located at the northwestern extreme of the nation near the border with the Arctic region of Finland directly to the west. Because the Kildin Sámi have ended up under the modern-day jurisdiction of Russia 🇷🇺, these Sámi people have ended up using the Cyrillic alphabet, unlike the Sámi people elsewhere 🇳🇴 🇸🇪 🇫🇮.

Hype for the Future 86M: The Finnish Languages

Introduction

This post is dedicated specifically to the languages often considered closest to the Finnish language, including, but not limited to, Finnish itself and disputed dialects named Kven in Norway and Meänkieli in Sweden.

Languages

While the Finnic languages also include the Estonian language, the latter is not mutually intelligible with the Finnish language nor with the languages further north and into the Arctic Circle. The northern end of Finland has the northern end of Sweden, home to the Meänkieli language, while the northern end of Norway is home to the Kven language.

The Arctic regions where Kven and Meänkieli are spoken also overlap with Sámi territory, both traditional and modern. The Sámi people are not related to the Greenlandic, Inuit, or other circumpolar peoples but rather to the general Finnish and even Hungarian populations.

Hype for the Future 73H: Descriptions of Nordic Flags

Introduction

There currently exist five (5) distinct Nordic nations, recognized by their distinctive Nordic cross flag shapes. These countries are Denmark 🇩🇰, Norway 🇳🇴, Sweden 🇸🇪, Iceland 🇮🇸, and Finland 🇫🇮, just to name sovereign states. Outlying territories which also contain the Nordic crosses also include the Faroe Islands 🇫🇴 of Denmark and the Åland Islands 🇦🇽 of Finland.

Flag Descriptions

• Denmark: Bicolor Nordic cross; white on the inside, red on the outside
• Faroe Islands: Tricolor Nordic cross; red on the inside, blue on the outline, white on the outside
• Norway: Tricolor Nordic cross; blue on the inside, white on the outline, red on the outside
• Sweden: Bicolor Nordic cross; yellow on the inside, blue on the outside
• Iceland: Tricolor Nordic cross; red on the inside, white on the outline, blue on the outside
• Finland: Bicolor Nordic cross; blue on the inside, white on the outside
• Åland Islands: Tricolor Nordic cross; red on the inside, yellow on the outline, blue on the outside

Hype for the Future 73F: The Importance of the Nordic Countries

Introduction

While the Nordic countries are perhaps most notable in the modern world for sharing a common symbol, the Nordic cross, amongst the flags of the associated nations and regional identities, each country also maintains a clear and present national identity of pride, even in spite of surface and historical similarities such as the traditional Kalmar Union of Sweden and Denmark-Norway.

Linguistics

From the Anglosphere, the Nordic countries are of particular interest as often representing the easiest foreign languages to learn, particularly because of shared basic vocabulary and grammar rules, even though the English language is linguistically more similar to the Dutch and German languages than to the languages further north in the European continent. Today, the English language, though often inheriting vocabulary from French and occasionally other Romance languages, continues to represent the Germanic linguistic roots as with the Viking communities, whom were also considered Germanic. Eventually, Old English and Old Norse were effectively identified as slightly different languages, though over a millennium of divergence has resulted in significant deviations between the English and Nordic languages. Even the orthographies are no longer of particular similarities, though Icelandic people are occasionally recorded, perhaps mistakenly, as speaking Old English.