Swastika finally removed from Finnish air force logo after 102 years

Finland's air force has finally removed a swastika from its 1918 design.

Better late than never.

A swastika insignia, which has been part of Finland’s air force logo for more than a century, has finally been relegated to the scrap heap.

The design of the Air Force Command, in effect since 1918, was abruptly abandoned earlier this week with no explanation, reported Deutsche Welle.

The new logo features a golden eagle against a blue background encircled by white wings.

Although the air force had stopped using the swastika on planes after World War II, the symbol was prominent on flags, uniforms and unit emblems for decades, a spokesman told BBC News.

“As unit emblems are worn on uniforms, it was impractical and unnecessary using the old emblem, which had caused misunderstandings from time to time,” A Finnish air force spokesman explained to the BBC.

Finland’s new air force insignia.

The swastika likely was adopted by the national air force through Swedish nobleman Count Eric von Rosen, who presented a plane painted with a blue swastika to the military service in 1918.

He also considered the symbol, which comes from the Sanskrit word for “well-being” a good-luck charm, according to Deutsche Welle.

“In Finland, there’s this idea that (the swastika) is a random decorative sign, which to some extent it is,” noted University of Helsinki world politics professor Teivo Teivainen.

Von Rosen, although not a Nazi himself, had a link to the regime through his brother-in-law, Hermann Göring, a close Adolf Hitler associate.

Subsequent planes in the Finnish air force continued to use the symbol, which eventually become associated with anti-Semitism. Hitler eventually co-opted the swastika for the Nazi Party.