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Finland’s Air Force Will Stop Using the Swastika on Flags

Grand Mal

Russian warship, go f*** yourself!
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They were using the symbol since 1918, obviously predating the German Nazi use of it, but they've decided to substitute a soaring gold eagle instead.

Finland’s Air Force Will Stop Using the Swastika on Flags

The Air Force is phasing out its use of the symbol, which dates to its foundation in 1918. An official said that it had sometimes caused “awkward situations.”
www.nytimes.com

I'll try to find the emblem with the swastika.

edit- this might be it...

The text associated with it is in Finnish so I can't be sure. The swastika is like the Hindu one, square, while the Nazi one is rotated 45°.

another edit- this is another one, looks authentic...

There's no political statement here, just an interesting thing I had no idea about.
 
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Thanks for finding and posting this. Also for the commentary re the difference between the Hindu symbol and the Nazis' appropriation of it.
 
Pyrite said:
Thanks for finding and posting this. Also for the commentary re the difference between the Hindu symbol and the Nazis' appropriation of it.
Click to expand...
It's interesting. I'm going to see if I can find why the Finnish air force would adopt a Hindu symbol in 1918.
There's some kind of story there.
 
Okay, apparently there's a coincidental twist to this story.
There was a Swedish count, Eric von Rosen, who was a wealthy explorer. He saw the swastika on old Viking runestones representing good luck and adopted it, had it carved on his luggage on an expedition to South America in 1901.
Later he was associated with an airplane manufacturer in Sweden and he donated a plane to Finland with his emblem painted on it. That plane, in 1918, was the first of the Finnish air force.
Still later, von Rosen was prominent in Sweden's Nazi party. The coincidence lies in the German Nazis having adopted the swastika emblem before von Rosen had any contact with them.
 



Swastikas on some Finland air force flags to be phased out

Swastikas have remained on some Finnish air force flags, raising eyebrows among NATO allies, tourists and others who spot them at military events.
www.defensenews.com

 
My lasing impression of the Finnish air force come from taking a commercial flight out of Oulu in central Finland. The commercial flights shared the runway with the air force. I settled into my seat, then looked out of the window to find myself staring at the pointy end of a couple of fighters loaded with missiles right next to us. I admit that it was sort of intimidating.
 
Grand Mal said:
It's an interesting story, how it came to be.
Now that I know why the swastika is on the flag, I have to wonder why the air force are impersonating infantry.
Click to expand...

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Maybe they are the same as the UK's Royal Air Force Regiment. trained and equipped as soldiers to protect RAF bases from ground attack.
 
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