Flag of the Swedish-speaking Finns in countryside. The flag may have been used in the 16th century, As such, the flag is based on a proposal to civil ensign put forward by the Senate flag committee in 1917. This proposal included nine white roses in the upper left corner. It also contains the same colours as one of the candidates for the Finnish flag on independence in 1917 and may even have been a proposal for the state flag itself. The current blue and white state flag became official on 28 May 1918. The colours are traditional and based on the red and yellow of
Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima stayed in their cave bunkers. Schrier and his men near the flagstaff then came under fire from Japanese troops, but the Marines quickly eliminated the threat. Schrier was later awarded the Navy Cross for volunteering to take the patrol up Mount Suribachi and raising the American flag, and a Silver Star Medal for a heroic action in March while in command of D Company, 2/28 Marines on Iwo Jima. Photographs of the first flag flown on Mount Suribachi were taken by Staff Sergeant Louis R. Lowery of "Leatherneck" magazine, who accompanied the patrol up the mountain, and other photographers. Others