Orders There are three official Finnish orders: • The
Order of the Cross of Liberty, founded in 1918 • The
Order of the White Rose of Finland, founded in 1919 • The
Order of the Lion of Finland, founded in 1941 The
President of Finland is the
grand master 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, although the order is not purely military: civilians may receive decorations of the order for national defence merits. The other two orders are awarded both for civilian and military merits. The bulk of the decorations are awarded twice a year, on 4 June on the
Flag Day of the Finnish Defence Forces, and on the
Independence Day, 6 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, while the Order of the Cross of Liberty has a separate board and chancellor. All orders are awarded by the president of Finland. The Order of the Cross of Liberty is always awarded "with swords" to military persons, with an additional ribbon in rosette form (see image in the beginning of the article) for combat or war-time merits. The decorations of the Order of the White Rose of Finland are awarded "with swords" only for combat merits and the decorations of the Order of the Lion of Finland only for war-time military merits. As such merits are usually recognised by decorations of the Order of the Cross of Liberty, the awards of the Order of the White Rose of Finland "with swords" have been vanishingly rare. The decorations of the Order of the Lion of Finland were awarded "with swords" mainly for merits incurred in home front service. No awards of either order have been issued "with swords" for merits incurred after the Second World War. In addition to the three official orders, there is one semi-official: the
Order of the Holy Lamb of the
Orthodox Church of Finland. • The medal of merit of motor transport • The medals of merit of
customs 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 memorial medal of the "War of Liberation", i.e. to the participants of the
Troops of the Republic of Finland (
Whites) in the
Finnish Civil War (1918) • The memorial medal of the
Winter War (1939–1940) • The memorial medal of the
Continuation War (1941–1944) and
Lapland War (1944–1945) • Mine clearance medal • Medal for humane benevolence (
Pro Benignitate Humana) • The cross of merit of the invalids of war • The cross and medal of merit of
police • The cross and medal of merit of
Finnish Border Guard • 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 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 or a high-level civil servant.
Order of precedence The official
order of precedence is: Memorial Crosses and Memorial Medals of the War of Independence, Winter War, and Continuation War and other Crosses of Merit and Medals of Merit of patriotic activity in chronological order. The list of the other Crosses and Medals of Merit of patriotic activity authorised for wear in a military uniform and their order of precedence is presented by the
Finnish Defence Forces. Of the following national level patriotic organisations, only the highest decoration awarded by the same organisation is carried; note that some are approved into the official awards order of precedence above and are to be carried according to it: In continuation to the above list, a maximum of two, of the following approved list of service and training branch and patriotic organisation decorations, may be carried in military uniform after the decorations listed above, in order of personal preference: although they aren't authorised to be worn in military uniform, except for events of the awarding party. In addition to the semi-official decorations, certain other decorations are authorised to be worn akin to the semi-official decorations alongside the official decorations (except for military personnel): Unofficial decorations are carried after the semi-official decorations and only in events of the awarding party. Foreign decorations are carried after the semi-official decorations in French alphabetical order of the countries, although military personnel need to apply for permit for each foreign decoration from the
Defence Command Personnel Division to be allowed to carry them. ==Titles==