The Maiden of Finland is the national personification of Finland. She is a barefoot 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 19th century when she was pictured as a woman wearing a turreted crown, and then developing as Finland gained a national consciousness and independence. The Maiden of Finland can also refer to 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 the Moscow Armistice of 1944), a head, and a skirt. The metaphor is so commonly used that the northwestern area around Enontekiö is known as the Arm (Käsivarsi) even in official contexts.
First Appearance Maamme kirja (1875) by Zachris Topelius – educational book
First Publisher Unknown
Appearance List Maamme kirja (1875) by Zachris Topelius – educational book using allegory of the Finnish Maiden, Koli Landscape (1899) by Eero Järnefelt – landscape painting often associated with the Maiden metaphor, Sortokauden pilapiirrokset (“Cartoons of the Years of Oppression”) (1899–1905) by various Finnish satirical artists – political cartoons featuring the Finnish Maiden oppressed by Russia, Suomi-neito ja Karhu (“The Finnish Maiden and the Bear”) (early 1900s) by Finnish political cartoonists – recurring motif of Finland vs. Russia.
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Description The Maiden of Finland is the national personification of Finland. She is a barefoot 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 19th century when she was pictured as a woman wearing a turreted crown, and then developing as Finland gained a national consciousness and independence. The Maiden of Finland can also refer to 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 the Moscow Armistice of 1944), a head, and a skirt. The metaphor is so commonly used that the northwestern area around Enontekiö is known as the Arm (Käsivarsi) even in official contexts.
