FINLAND: FINNISH HISTORIANS AND VETERAN PILOTS SAY BLUE SWASTIKA ADORNED WINGS OF FINNISH WARPLANES LONG BEFORE APPEARING ON NAZI BANNERS
Record ID:
649183
FINLAND: FINNISH HISTORIANS AND VETERAN PILOTS SAY BLUE SWASTIKA ADORNED WINGS OF FINNISH WARPLANES LONG BEFORE APPEARING ON NAZI BANNERS
- Title: FINLAND: FINNISH HISTORIANS AND VETERAN PILOTS SAY BLUE SWASTIKA ADORNED WINGS OF FINNISH WARPLANES LONG BEFORE APPEARING ON NAZI BANNERS
- Date: 25th January 2005
- Summary: (W3) TIKKAKOSKI, FINLAND (JANUARY 25, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. SIGN OUTSIDE THE FINNISH AIRFORCE MUSEUM 0.04 2. CU: SIGN WITH PICTURE OF AIRPLANE WITH SWASTIKA 0.07 3. VARIOUS OF RADARS AND PLANES OUTSIDE THE MUSEUM, COVERED WITH SNOW (2 SHOTS) 0.16 4. THULIN AIRCRAFT DONATED BY COUNT ERIC VON ROSEN TO THE FINNISH "WHITE" ARMY IN 1918 0.20 5. CU: STILL PICTURE OF VON ROSEN (LEFT) NEXT TO THE SWASTIKA SIGN 0.24 6. TILT: THULIN AIRCRAFT 0.28 7. VARIOUS OF AIRCRAFTS 0.32 8. CU: SWASTIKA PAINTED ON WING 0.36 9. (SOUNDBITE) (Finnish) VETERAN PILOT TAUNO RANTALA SAYING: "One should ask where the Germans got the swastika from. It was used there much later than in Finland. It became the Finnish symbol when the Swede von Rosen put it on the planes he brought over. But that was only on the planes, even before that the swastika has been known in history a long time as a symbol of luck." 0.56 10. STILL PICTURE OF THE FOKKER DXXI AIRCRAFT 1.00 11. FOKKER DXXI IN THE MUSEUM 1.03 12. DE HAVILLAND D.H.60X MOTH PLANE/ CU SWASTIKA PAINTED ON THE WING (2 SHOTS) 1.10 13. VARIOUS OF MUSEUM VISITORS LOOKING AT PLANES (2 SHOTS) 1.18 14. CU: TAIL OF A DOWNED SOVIET PLANE WITH RED STAR 1.21 15. VARIOUS OF A SOVIET AIRACOBRA PLANE (2 SHOTS) 1.29 16. CU: FINNISH AIR-SHOW ADVERTISEMENT WITH SWASTIKA 1.33 17. (SOUNDBITE) (Finnish) VETERAN PILOT TAUNO RANTALA SAYING: "I do think it was highly inconsiderate of him (Prince Harry) and I was very surprised by that someone of his status would use it." 1.41 18. CU: CROSS WITH SWASTIKA 1.45 19. SAAB DRAKEN FIGHTER NAMED AFTER COUNT VON ROSEN 1.49 20. VARIOUS OF SOVIET-MADE MIG FIGHTER WITH THE BLUE CIRCLE PAINTED ON THE SIDE (2 SHOTS) 1.57 21. (SOUNDBITE) (English) KAI MECKLIN, AIR FORCE MUSEUM DIRECTOR SAYING: "We are not so, let's say, hot-blooded about the swastika or anything. In a natural way, in our flag, we are still using it in our air force flags and it does not make any hot blood. But if we have to change it, we have to change something very important in our history." 2.19 22. CU: PLANE MODELS WITH SWASTIKAS 2.26 23. (SOUNDBITE) (English) KAI MECKLIN, AIR FORCE MUSEUM DIRECTOR: I understand it can be banned if it is used as a Nazi or neo-Nazi symbol but if it used in the right, historical connection it should be allowed to be used." 2.40 24. THE EXHIBITION HALL 2.45 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 9th February 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TIKKAKOSKI, FINLAND
- Country: Finland
- Reuters ID: LVA8DFZ7O7YGCDVWR7LQY5C4CWEI
- Story Text: Finnish historians and pilots say blue swastika
adorned the wings of Finnish warplanes long before
appearing on Nazi banners, amid calls for a ban on the
controversial symbol.
Like many other swastika worshippers, the Finnish
Air Force veterans believe the swastika symbol or
"Hakaristi" in Finnish belongs to them rather than to Nazis.
"One should ask where the Germans got the swastika
from," said veteran pilot Tauno Rantala, 80, from the town
of Jyvaskyla.
Rantala was a trainee pilot during the war and flew a
trainer Focke-Wulf biplane adorned with blue swastikas in a
white circle on both wings and a fuselage.
In 1918 Swedish explorer and aviation enthusiast Eric
von Rosen donated a Thulin D plane to the Finnish "White
Army" that was fighting the "Red" communists in the civil
war.
Von Rosen, who often travelled to Asia wanted the blue
swastika, his personal mascot, to be painted on the wings
of the aircraft.
A Europe-wide ban on Nazi insignia is worth considering,
the European Commission said on Monday
(January 24), after Britain's Prince Harry caused outrage
by wearing a swastika armband and Nazi costume at a
fancy-dress party.
"I do think it was highly inconsiderate of him (Prince
Harry) and I was very surprised by that someone of his
status would use it," Rantala said.
To the millions who suffered in World War Two, the
swastika is a loathed emblem of hatred, racism and
xenophobia.
But for many the 5,000-year-old emblem as a symbol of
good luck derived from the Sanskrit "svastika" and meaning
"Good to be."
Finland fought two wars against the Soviet Union in
the last century. It was attacked in November 1939, and
later invaded the U.S.S.R. alongside Nazi Germany.
After the end of World War Two, it had an uneasy
political relationship with the huge neighbour until the
Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
In April 1945 the swastika was replaced by the blue
circle in the Finnish Air Force but can still be seen on
some units banners.
"We are not so, let's say, hot-blooded about the
swastika or anything. In a natural way, in our flag, we are
still using it in our air force flags and it does not make
any hot blood. But if we have to change it, we have to
change something very important in our history," said the
Finnish Air Force museum director Kai Mecklin.
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