Orders, decorations, and medals of Finland

The orders, decorations and medals of Finland form a 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, medals and titles.

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 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.

[2] 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.

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.

The former is usually awarded to most distinguished, retired politicians, while the latter is meant for the CEOs of the largest Finnish companies.

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.

All three Finnish orders on display at the state funeral of Martti Ahtisaari together with his Nobel Peace Prize .
Order of the Cross of Liberty, 3rd class with swords
The cross of merit of customs service with a clasp, a typical Finnish branch-specific cross of merit. The cross is awarded by the minister responsible for customs for distinguished service or contributions to the customs service. A cross with a clasp may be awarded in special cases.