At the beginning of the 20th century, many Finns in Swedish-speaking circles were concerned about the preservation of Swedish cultural heritage in Finland. The reformed Swedish People’s Party of Finland, which represented Swedish-speaking Finns, decided at the initiative of its chairman, Axel Lille, to establish a special day to commemorate Swedishness and Swedish cultural heritage. There was no clear choice for Svenska dagen – Finnish Swedish Heritage Day. One option was November 29, in remembrance of the Diet of Porvoo, but March 6, the day that Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden fell at the Battle of Lützen, nevertheless felt more appropriate. Today, the choice of date is not a question of honouring a warrior king but of remembering a reformer of the Swedish state. During the language disputes and nationalist radicalism of the 1930s, Finnish Swedish Heritage Day was associated with unrest, particularly in Finland’s largest cities, which had substantial Swedish-speaking populations. In Helsinki there were even clashes on the street between radical Finnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking youths.

Finnish Swedish Heritage Day has been an official flag day in Finland since 1979. Today, many schools, kindergartens, societies and associations, among others, arrange their own Finnish Swedish Heritage Day celebrations in Swedish-speaking areas. The unofficial ‘national anthem’ of Swedish-speaking Finns, Modersmålets sang, also plays a central part in the celebrations.

In the recording above from Yle Archives, Akademiska sångföreningen (The Academic Male Voice Choir of Helsinki) presents, at its 160th anniversary celebration, the song Modersmålets sång, composed and written by Johan Fridolf Hagfors.

Sources:

• Max Hanemann, Axel Lille. En levnadsteckning (‘A Biography’), Helsinki 1931
• G. von Bonsdorff, Svenska Folkpartiet. Bakgrund, tillblivelse och utveckling till 1917, Helsinki 1956.
• Lars-Folke Landgrén, ‘Lille, Axel Johan’, Biografiskt lexikon för Finland (online publication). Accessed November 2, 2015.
• ‘Axel Lille’, Wikipedia. Accessed November 2, 2015.
• ‘Lille, Axel’, Uppslagsverket Finland (online publication). Accessed November 2, 2015.