Turku is an Finnish city located in the southwestern region of Varsinais-Suomi or in English Finland Proper because it's the place where all Fins originated from. During the 13th century Turku was founded and was an very long time the capital of Finland, until it became part of the Russian Empire in 1809 and the capital moved to Helsinki. Before that it was part of Sweden and still 5,2% speaks Swedish of the 191 thousand people live in the city. Those are the Swedish-Finns and the called Turku in Swedish Åbo. The etymology of Turku is something like "market place" and Åbo is something like "river dwelling", so no similarities in the names. Also the only Swedish speaking university is in Turku since 1918, named Åbo Akademi and two years later for Finnish the University of Turku opened. The main attractions of Turku is its history and the great natural beauty around the city. So let's take an look at the flag.
The flag is an stretched out coat of arms with an blue background with some symbols in the center. The monogram figure is for the Virgin Mary and has multiple explanations. It's not clear but is also an gothic letter A, because the Latin name of Turku is Aboa. At first sight the gothic A is more an M but must seen as an merged A and M, that symbolizing "Ave Maria" an traditional prayer. The fleur-de-lis or French lily are symbolizing the Virgin Mary, also the blue background is the color of the Virgin Mary. The cathedral of Turku is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. So it's flag for the Virgin Mary and an little bit of Turku.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten