Finnish Maiden

The Maiden of Finland (Finnish: Suomi-neito) is the personification of Finland, much as Marianne in France, Deutscher Michel in Germany and Uncle Sam for the United States. She is a young woman in her mid-twenties with often braided blonde hair, blue eyes, wearing a blue and white national costume or a white dress. She was originally called Aura after the Aura river in Turku. As a symbol, the Finnish Maiden has been used since the 18th Century when she was pictured as a a woman wearing a turreted crown, and then developing as Finland gained a national consciousness, and independence. Poetically, the maiden Aura has been linked to her foster mother, Mother Svea, the personification of Sweden.

Related Topics:
Finnish - Personification - Finland - Marianne - France - Deutscher Michel - Germany - Uncle Sam - United States - National costume - Aura - Turku - 18th Century - Mother Svea - Sweden

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The Maiden of Finland can also refer the shape of Finland on the map. With a little imagination it looks like a female form which has one hand raised, (and another before Moscow Peace Treaty (1940)), a head and a skirt.

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