The Finnish flag, also known as Siniristilippu (blue cross), is another of flags inspired by Danish Danneborg. Blue Nordic cross reaches the edges of the flag and it is located on a white background. The shorter arm of the cross is shifted closer to left side of the flag, like in case of other Scandinavian flags, but the cross is more massive compared to the others. Blue symbolizes thousands of Finnish lakes and white stands for snowy landscape. The cross is said to originate in old Nordic legends, however official Finnish version says that this cross was adopted after gaining the independence at the end of WW1. The state flag differs only by the national emblem which is placed in the center of the cross.

The flag is a banner of the arms, and the arms of Helsinki is older than 1967. 
The name of Helsinki in Swedish is Helsingfors. About 7.5 % of the city's population has Swedish as their first language. Helsinki was founded in 1550 and became the capital of Finland in 1812

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