Orders, decorations, and medals of Finland

The orders, decorations and medals of Finland form a rather complicated system through which the Finnish government shows its respect to persons who have distinguished themselves on some walk of life. The legal basis of the system is the Act on the displays of public recognition (1215/1999) which grants the president the authority to issue decrees on orders

Order (decoration)

An order or order of merit is a visible honour, awarded by a government, dynastic house or international organization to an individual, usually in recognition of distinguished service to a nation or to humanity. The distinction between orders and decorations is somewhat vague, except that most...

, medals and title

Title

A title is a prefix or suffix added to someone's name to signify either veneration, an official position or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may even be inserted between a first and last name...

s.

The system is divided into three groups:

orders
medals and decorations
titles

Orders

There are three Finnish orders:

The Order of the Cross of Liberty
Order of the Cross of Liberty
There are three official orders in Finland: the Order of the Cross of Liberty , the Order of the White Rose of Finland and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of the two orders, and usually of the Order of the Cross of Liberty as well, Grand Mastership of...

, founded in 1918
The Order of the White Rose of Finland, founded in 1919
The Order of the Lion of Finland
Order of the Lion of Finland
There are three official orders in Finland: the Order of the Cross of Liberty, the Order of the White Rose of Finland and the Order of the Lion of Finland . The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all three orders. The orders are administered by boards consisting of a chancellor, a...

, founded in 1941

The President of Finland

President of Finland

The President of the Republic of Finland is the nation's head of state. Under the Finnish constitution, executive power is vested in the President and the government, with the President possessing extensive powers. The President is elected directly by the people of Finland for a term of six years....

is the grand master

Grand Master (order)

Grand Master is the typical title of the supreme head of various orders of knighthood, including various military orders, religious orders and civil orders such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Orange Order...

of all orders. Of the orders, the Order of the Cross of Liberty is the most distinguished and awarded the most seldom. Its decorations are awarded only for military or national defence merits. The other two crosses are awarded both for civilians and military persons. The decorations are awarded twice a year, on 4th June on the Flag Day of the Finnish Defence Forces

Finnish Defence Forces

The Finnish Defence Forces are responsible for the defence of Finland. It is a cadre army of 15,000, of which 8,900 are professional soldiers , extended with conscripts and reservists such that the standard readiness strength is 34,700 people in uniform...

, and on the Independence day, 6th December. In total, there are about 6.000 awards a year.

The orders of the White Rose and the Lion of Finland have a common board and chancellor

Chancellor

Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...

, while the Order of the Cross of Liberty has a separate board and chancellor. All orders are awarded by the president of Finland.

Medals and decorations

The individual areas of government have usually a separate awards system designed to show respect for those persons who do not qualify for an order. Such medals are founded by a presidential decree. Most typically, they include one or two classes: a cross and a medal. Thus far, the following medals have been founded

The medal of merit of motor transport
The medals of merit of customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...

service
The crosses and medals of merit of Finnish sports and culture of physical exercise
The Olympic cross (1st and 2nd class) and medal of merit
The cross and medals of merit of Finnish Red Cross
Life saving medal
The medal of War of Liberation
Finnish Civil War
The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I in Europe. The Civil War concerned control and leadership of The Grand Duchy of Finland as it achieved independence from Russia after the October Revolution in Petrograd...
The memorial medal of the war of the years 1939-1940
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
The memorial medal of the war of the years 1941-1944
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
Mine clearance medal
Medal for human alacrity (Pro Benignitate Humana)
The cross of merit of the invalids of war
The cross and medal of merit of police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
The cross and medal of merit of Finnish Border Guard
Finnish Border Guard
The Finnish Border guard is the national security agency responsible for enforcing the security of Finland's borders...
The badge of merit of fire prevention
The 1st and 2nd classes of the medal of merit of civil defence
The cross of merit of prison service
The cross of merit of customs service, with or without a clasp
The military merit medal
The golden medal of merit of Suomen Reserviupseeriliitto (Finnish reserve officers' association)
Guild metal of merit
The cross of merit of Reserviläisliitto – Reservin Aliupseerien Liitto (Reservists' association – Reserve NCOs' association)
The medal of merit of Insinööriupseeriliitto (Engineer Officers' association)
The medal of merit of Kadettikunta (Cadet Corps)
The medal of merit of traffic safety branch
The special medal of merit of work for working environment

In addition, there is a state decoration for 30 years of service of state. The corresponding decorations of the Central Chamber of Commerce and City of Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

the League of Finnish Municipalities are also approved for use with the official decorations. Other decorations of private bodies may only be used privately.

The awarding body of the medals and crosses of merits varies. Although the decorations are founded by the president, the awarding body is usually the chief of the authority in question, i.e. a minister

Minister (government)

A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....

or a high-level civil servant.

Titles

Although a republic, Finland has a tradition of awarding titles for distinguished citizens. The available titles are listed in the Presidential decree on titles (381/2000). The titles are classified in 16 categories of precedence. The two highest titles are valtioneuvos
Valtioneuvos
Valtioneuvos is a Finnish title of honor awarded by the President to elder statesmen. It is in the highest class of the titles of honor...

(State counsellor) and vuorineuvos
Vuorineuvos
Vuorineuvos is a Finnish honorary title granted by the President of Finland to leading industry figures. The title is honorary and has no responsibilities and no privileges. All Finnish titles are non-hereditary. The only title of equal rank is valtioneuvos.There is no official or established...

(Mining Counsellor). The former is usually awarded to most distinguished, retired politicians, while the latter is meant for the CEOs of the largest Finnish companies. Less distinguished titles span different walks of life. Curiosities include liikenneneuvos (traffic counsellor), kotiseutuneuvos (home district counsellor) and nuorisoasiainneuvos (youth affairs counsellor). In total, there are about 100 different titles. A Finnish title is purely honorary, causing no responsibilities and giving no privileges. All Finnish titles are non-hereditary.

Typically, the titles are awarded by the president. There are some exceptions, however. The chief judge of a district court may award the title of herastuomari (judge of the county) to a lay judge with a long service. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is the national church of Finland. The church professes the Lutheran branch of Christianity, and is a member of the Porvoo Communion....

and the Finnish Orthodox Church

Finnish Orthodox Church

The Finnish Orthodox Church is an autonomous Orthodox archdiocese of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Church has a legal position as a national church in the country, along with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland....

, on the other hand, have the right to award the titles of director cantus and director musices. Yearly, the president awards over 200 titles on the advice of the titles' board. The awards take place twice a year: in March and in September.

In addition to honorary titles awarded by the President, certain honorary titles are awarded ex officio to state civil servants in leading positions. For example, the managers or section chiefs of several state research institutes automatically hold the title of professori ("professor"), if they are qualified for tenured faculty position in a university.

A stamp tax is paid for a title. The tax varies with the rank of the title and can be quite substantial for the higher titles. Customarily the organization that proposes the title pays the tax.

Orders

Medals and decorations

Titles

See also