Flag of Åland Flag of Åland The flag of Åland refers to the geographical and political position of the Finnish islands of Åland. It is the Swedish flag defaced by a red cross symbolising Finland. Today, blue and white are considered the Finnish colours, but in the early days of Finnish nationalism, red and yellow from the Finnish coat of arms were also an option. The flag has been the official flag of the autonomous Finnish province of Åland since 1954. It was first hoisted on 3 April 1954. Prior to autonomy, an unofficial horizontal bicolour triband of blue-yellow-blue was in use. That
Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima the following decades, Rosenthal repeatedly and vociferously denied claims that the flag-raising was staged. "I don't think it is in me to do much more of this sort of thing ... I don't know how to get across to anybody what 50 years of constant repetition means." President Franklin D. Roosevelt, upon seeing Joe Rosenthal's flag-raising photograph, realized the image would make an excellent symbol for the upcoming Seventh War Loan Drive to help pay for the war, and ordered the flag-raisers identified and sent to Washington, D.C. after the fighting on the island ended (March 26, 1945). Using a