Flag of Finland as its Grand Master. Like Sweden's, Finland's national flag is based on the Scandinavian cross. It was adopted after independence from Russia, when many patriotic Finns wanted a special flag for their country, but its design dates back to the 19th century. The blue colouring is said to represent the country's thousands of lakes and the sky, with white for the snow that covers the land in winter. This colour combination has also been used over the centuries in various Finnish provincial, military, and town flags. The first known "Flag of Finland" was presented in 1848, along with the national
Flag of Switzerland so that the ratio of cross to flag width is 5:12. The shade of red used in the flag was not defined by law prior to 2017. The 2017 flag law specifies the colour of the flag as: In 2004, the Federal Chancellery published a corporate design guide for the federal administration, in force since 1 January 2007. The colour specifications given there are compatible with those later put in the annex to the flag law. The matching of heraldic tincture to modern color specifications for print or screen display is very uncertain, and to some extent left to the