Cheers for an awesome video :) Felt to mention, Nurmijärvi is the birthplace of Aleksis Kivi, our national author. Seitsemän veljestä, the seven brothers, is his main literary work - hence the brothers being in the Nurmijärvi herald.
Main, or most known perhaps but not the only one. Kivi did write many plays and at least 2 other books. Kanervala is his poetry book. And then Kullervo, Lea or Kihlaus are his plays. Most famous play is called Heath Cobblers , Nummisuutarit.
It used to be that the Lappajärvi lake was believed to be an old volcano, hence the flames below the ship. However, the current understanding is that the lake is actually a crater from a meteor strike.
Did the people know of the volcano/meteor theory when the coat of arms was created? Did they even know such things existed? I have no idea how old the design is, so this is a genuine question. I have a simpler idea. Even going by the name of the place, the lake is a very important place for the settlement. And they look more at the lake than the skies. It's just the aurora mirrored on the lake. Below the boat.
@@gebus5633 The volcano theory was incorrectly confirmed 1920 based on the rock samples taken from the area since 1858. The Coat of Arms was designed 1957. The suspicion about the lake actually being a crater, not a volcano, started 1967. This was confirmed either next year when the preliminary studies were finished, or 1976 when the final study to the lake's origin was released. The area is still studied and dated using various methods, since the lake is either the largest or the second largest crater in Finland. (Didn't find out why there is contention, I presume the difference between #1 and #2 is pretty close.) That's what I found out with a quick Googling. I hope I didn't get anything wrong.
@@TheRawrnstuff Cool to know. Didn't look into it myself earlier. Somehow I thought there would have been older history behind it. Like with the coat of arms of Lappeenranta. Granted, when it comes to more (centrally) organized settling it started earlier towards the coast.
Nurmijärvi arms is indeed the Seven Brothers. However, it's not a folk tale, but rather an original book by Finnish national writer Aleksisis Kivi, who came from Nurmijärvi.
I am a huge heraldry nerd and have to say we Finns usually do pretty well with heraldry even though I might be a bit biased. But the heraldic rules are so well followed in these examples that I have no objections. 😅
I've read that this is because Finnish municipal heralds are rather young (prior to 1949 only towns were allowed to have a CoA) and most are designed by expert heraldrists who wanted to follow traditional heraldric rules. There was a revival of traditional purist heraldry in 19th-20th centuries I think, which opposed early modern heraldry that had become very baroque and ornamental.
The lynx appearing in Janakkala's coat of arms reflects its central location in Tavastia quite well, because the Eurasian lynx is the official regional animal of Tavastia. Also, the coat of arms of Heinola, which is located in the Päijänne Tavastia region, features a lynx.
In Kangasala's coat of arms the harp symbolizes the musical culture (mainly the popular song Kesäpäivä Kangasalla and the famous old church organ factory) and the red droplets symbolize an old legend about the local church's walls crying blood. And also a fun fact about the area: Kangasala's high school's music teacher has organized and held an Irish Music Festival there every year since 2018! This year it's moving to the larger nearby city of Tampere though. You should come in april and join the craic!
Actually, the red droplets are exactly like the Swedish symbol for a 18th century hand grenade, a ball-shaped grenade with a flaming fuse. It is still worn on modern artillery uniforms in Sweden. Did Kangasala have a grenadier or artillery regiment?
@@pergustavsson2424 No. Those droplets are blood. They come from old tale where innocent girl was accused of being a witch and was beheaded on a rock. That rock has been bleeding innocent blood ever since. Also that rock was used in the building of Kangasalas main church and you can see the stone when driving on Kangasalantie.
The Multia arms comes from the fact that locals were back in the day called "Multian keltiäiset" or "Multia Yellow meadow ants". The black background (like possibly the yellow ant reference to people from Multia) comes from the root word for Multia "multa", which means "soil".
I heard that the yellow ants in the region are super aggressive defenders of their nests and their acid hurt a lot, and despite my grandmother lives there and I've visited her many times in the past, never had "the chance" to experience that :'D
@@KA-jm2cz This is actually a common misunderstanding. Yellow meadow ants have neither stings nor spray formic acid and are completely harmless. The one's called "kusiainen" (I think the "ainen" end is just short of "muurahainen" or "ant", so kusiainen would be a "piss ant") is "siloviholainen" (common red ant), which is often mistaken for the yellow meadow ant due to its orange-yellowish colour. Also the stinging ants don't "piss" acid outside of folk-stories, but rather inflict venom through their stings. The formic ants that spray acid are the ones that build ant hills. Red ants, like yellow meadow ants live almost entirely underground or in dead trees and such.
Generally, Finnish coats of arms are related to the place itself. Either they express the place name directly like Seinäjoki. Or they express things specific to the locality. There are reindeer and whitefish in Inari and Eno's beaver on the triple mountain refers to Eno's Majoinvaara, and the ax carried on its shoulder symbolizes logging and forestry. All coats of arms are explained on Wikipedia (the name of the municipality vaakuna), but unfortunately only in Finnish. The explanations are short and therefore the output of google translator is quite good.
According to the heraldry wiki, the Kangasala coat of arms, where the harp is a symbol for a song, A summerday in Kangsala. The drops are derived from a local legend involving crying stones... This definitely piqued my interest too as a fellow Irishman
For centuries we have been the battle-field between two empires. That is why Finnish Lion has so many swords and many other coats-of-arms are very battle-heavy
Yes, the 7 Brothers takes place in Nurmijärvi. If you go to Helsinki, Aleksis Kivi's statue is right in front of the Finnish national theatre, and it's as glorious as it gets.
It's nothing too special on its own, but I really like the coat of arms of my home town, Tervola. It's a picture of a silver crane, holding an onion on its beak. Every Autumn, I long for the moment the cranes leave for the winter. The air is extremely fresh and crispy, and the constant shouting of the cranes can be heard far and wide during ever darkening evenings as the temperature drops. And then they fly away in a formation, reminding us of the upcoming winter. It's something truly magical. 😊
The coat of arms of Varkaus symbolizes ship building and industry in general. In 1830 Gustaf Werde founded the ironworks in Varkaus, mainly because there were large forests, rivers and waterways around. The anchor also symbolizes Varkaus as an inland port. The old canal was build in 1835-1840.
I'd follow about the colours he mentioned with Coat of Arms of Varkaus: Black and Gold are colours of Savonia, which is why most Municipalities there carry it in Coat of Arms. Same with Black and Red in Karelia.
Thanks for another cool video. Here are a few comments: 2:20 the fire below the boat in the Lappajärvi coat of arms has something to do with the fact that Lake Lappajärvi was thought to be an old volcano crater. Actually the lake is an old meteorite impact crater, from an impact that took place 77 - 78 million years ago. 3:33 Varkaus is an industrial city, with a long history of boat and ship building. Hence the arm holding the anchor. 4:20 Lynx is the regional animal of Häme. It is also seen in the regional coat or arms, and the old provincial coat of arms. Several cities and municipalities of the region have the lynx in some form. 4:48 Finland's national author, Aleksis Kivi was born in Nurmijärvi, by the lake Tuusulanjärvi. Kivi is the author who wrote the Seven Brothers, the first major novel in Finnish language in 1870. It is based on his own imagination, so it is not actually a folk tale.
All the sybols, shapes and animals have some local meaning befind them, if you wonder something, study that coats local hisory and it will propably be clear.
I love heraldry and find it so endearing that even the smallest towns in Finland have their own coats of arms. Also the themes aren't too bombastic and fit within the framework of Finnish culture. Instead of horses you see people riding bears and instead swords you see clubs.
There are Eno hoodies, my friend got one over the christmas, i got a coffee filter holder and a cloth bag with the coat of arms on them. Also will get a tattoo of it down the line. Great to see my birth place in a video!
Kangasala harp and eagle are both references to the "Kesäpäivä Kangasalla", the Pirkanmaa regional song. The blood refers to the legend of Kuussalon Kaarina. Beautiful maiden who charmed a nobleman, was wrongfully accused of witchcraft and executed. As her last words, Kaarina woved that the stone, on which she was to be beheaded, would bleed forever as a sign of her innocence. The story goes that it (being iron ore) did indeed "bleed" during rain. The famous "Verikivi" is located in the outer wall of Kangasal church.
@@valivali8104 It's a 17th century folktale, made popular by a 19th century ballad. There are no historical records of Kaarina Kuussalo or this particular event. Personally, I have never seen the stone bleed. Nevertheless, the story is well known in Kangasala.
Kurikka used to have a cool one with crossed spiked clubs and a moose head, but with joining of municipalities we ended up with a new one, a simple one representing a woodworking joint, which is thematically and historically ok, but nowhere near as cool as the old one.
MULTIA mentioned!(grab's a beer) No, seriously I was suprised that my birthplace occured here suddenly. A small place in middle of nowhere, where I grew up following my grandfather.. Old man taught me forrestry, game wardening, fishing and hunting. Always hard working and man of a word, but still calm and caring. Fun fact behind the ant in c-o-a, it comes from mentality of the locals. "Working like ants" thats the tale in short and all that mentality shined from my grandfather, like the other locals at time. Although im not living there anymore, my heart and memories with my grandfather belong there. Remembering that allways brings wide smile to me and shed a tear.🥲 Thank you for this fine moment!
I just love how much Janakkala's CoA tells you without becoming overloaded with details. Old, major Center of Faith (both as itself and as part of Vanaja) Several old sites of defences (Fort hills, castles) Strong ties to, being the core of Häme itself (old Häme, before splitting up to Hämeenlinna/Tavastia, Vanaja etc.)
Finnish heraldics are awesome. First of all the whole Finnish coat of arms lion stomping on eastern style sword while holding western sword tells a lot of finnish mindset even nowadays. And then we have Karelian coat of arms. The battleground between the east and the west. But if you really want to scratch your hear check out municipalities of Rautjärvi and Outokumpu. One is from Southern Karelia and the other one from Northern Karelia. But after that there is no obvious connection between those two.
There's a simple explanation for the coat of arms of Outokumpu and Rautjärvi. There's a copper mine in Outokumpu, and the female symbol is also the symbol of Venus, which is associated with the metal copper. Rautjärvi is related to iron, hence the symbol there
@@nthmaster3077 That's true and I knew that. But it needs understanding of finnish language (raut-> rauta = iron), knowledge of Outokumpu, knowledge of alchemic symbols, to understand that they are mostly not connected.
My personal favorite might be the Coat of Arms of Kruununhaka. It's the Finland's Lion, wearing a crown, and finding a much fancier crown just lying around while trudging in waist-high water.
I've always liked the coa of Lapland. Just a wildman with his club. Pretty striking imagery and judging by your favourites, you might like that one as well😀
I was born in Kangasala but moved to a city next to it. The harp is there to represent the folk song and drops of blood around it represent the legend of the bleeding church stone. It's said that one of the stones they used to build the Kangasala church bleeds every now and then because that exact slab was one of the stones used during the witch trials in Kangasala! It was reused to build the church and ever since then the stone started "crying blood" to prove the innocence of one of the witches. It's pretty easy to spot on one of the church walls if you're ever visiting! It really is reddish and drips.. 😁 (obviously an iron ore)
I think that Lappajärvi's coat of arm is about the meteor strike that made the Lappajärvi-lake. Living in central Finland I have seen the Multia CoA many times and I like it too very much. And you are right on point of Nurmijärvi. I think my favorite is Kokkola because it is the towon where I was born and the CoA is really cool. Good video, thanks again!
The "fire" below the boat in the Lappajärvi CoA actually symbolizes an old belief that the lake was an ancient volcanic caldera, but it has indeed been proven scientifically that it's an impact crater.
The old coat of arms of Kaarina( named after pyhä Katariina, Catherine of Alexandria) was called as katariinanpyörä (Wheel of Catherine) a torture device used from antiquity until it was banned in Europe in 1800's.
My home municipality changed their coat of arms when they merged with a neighbor town and I'm very bitter about it, because the original coat of arms was very unique and the new one was an extremely basic one. I am gonna get aspects of the original tattooed on my arm though.
I got a video idea for you. You should do a video on the ancient Finnish Kingdom Kvenland (And it's King Faravid Kaukomieli.) Also the kven language is considered 'old finnish' and it's mostly spoken northern Norway, most notably in the small fishing town of Pykeija. Pretty intresting.
Janakkala really has branded that lynx here you can see cartoon lynx doing all kinds of stuff (it is different from that crest but still we relly love the lynx)
5:10 Aleksis Kivi (the dude who wrote the Seitsemän Veljestä) lived in Nurmijärvi and there's speculation that Impivaara (place in the book) actually represents Taaborinvuori. Aleksis was born in Nurmijärvi (very close to Taaborinvuori in 1834) and died in Tuusula (1872).
According to Finnish Wikipedia: The "fire" under the boat in the Lappajärvi coat of arms is referencing a legend about how the lake (Lappajärvi) was thought to be a volcanic crater. Nowadays we know it's a meteoric crater instead. The ant on the coat of arms of Multia refers to an old nickname for the local population, basically "The Yellow Ants of Multianen", unsure why though don't know, but at least according to the Nurmijärvi "tourism" page, that is in fact where the story of the seven brothers takes place, though that probably has more to do with that it was where the author of said story lived. Kangasala's one gets the harp from a song about the location, and the drops surrounding it about a stroy of a crying rock in a church somewhere there.
The blood droplets on Kangasala's coat of arms are from an old legend. According to legend a woman was beheaded for being a witch. Now the same rock is a part of the local churches wall and when it rains, the rust in the stone looks as if it's bleeding. There's also some lore about a giant named Riku, that lived in Riku, and in anger tossed a bunch of rocks in the middle of Vesijärvi(a lake creatively named waterlake). Now those rocks are small islands on the lake and are called Riku's stones/Riku's rocks.
Good video once again! Please check out Pihtipudas, its the northernmost municipality of keski-Suomi (central finland) also the home of all my family and me included. The spearheads represent the spear throwing carnevals, always held at Pihtipudas. Cheers!🎉
There is, or at least was, a motorcycle club MC Jukola in Nurmijärvi and their logo is/was like that coat of arms but the heads were replaced with skulls. In my opinion that was a genius idea.
In a fact the book says that the story happens in southern Tavast... So it can't be Nurmijärvi, since Nurmijärvi is in Nylands... But the writer/author Aleksis Kivi was a resident of Nurmijärvi, that's why the story is so important to Nurmijärvi.
I really like the coat of arms of Oulu. I'm from that area and have seen it around since I was a kid. It has a castle and a salmon but the caste windows look like eyes and the salmon looks like a mustache. Though the one for my own village was also funny, a fish getting ele ctrocuted by three lightning bolts.
Nivala yassss! It's called here "Nivala rinki" and it's a specific type of a gate that is attached to a pasture or a field, plus the obvious big N and rest of the hidden letters. Nivala is a big producer of milk, so anything and everyrhing related to cows is the local nieche.
5:40 KANGASALA MENTIONED LETS GO TO MARKET!!! that is btw my home town those red dots are resembled as blood drops that symbols the stone called ''verikivi''(eng. bloodstone) its location is at the wall of kangasala's stone church and it has very long history behind it. legend says that when it rains it looks like the stone is crying blood because an inocent soul was murdered on it (you can find some of it by just typing kangasala blood stone history) i dont know the history of the eagle and the harp
The coat of arms of my home town is one that is easy to misunderstand... Most who don't understand the symbols used would see two "male symbols" in it, but actually they are symbols for iron. And Pohja does have a long history with iron. As some people know Pohja is also that one place where Fiskars is both a company and a village. What most people don't know, is the fact that the Fiskars ironworks had a priviledge (not sure if that is proper translation) to operate an iron mine in Stockholm, wich would be the very same Stockholm most people know as the capital city of Sweden. The rights for that mine existed since the founding of the ironworks in 1600's to the War of Finland in 1809. In case if you are wondering why would the king of Sweden really give rights to a mine to ironworks on the other side of the baltic sea, to a town that is not even really on sea shore, but miles inland... Even if there is a passage that is navigable even with modern freighters (rather smallish by modern standards, but still)... And that reason would be in the way iron was processed before the industrial revolution. At the time charcoal was the only fuel that was clean enough to make decent iron or steel. And that means it takes a lot of wood to make iron. And the one place where wood has allways been plenty, is Finland. And like I said Pohja is located several miles inland yet accessible by ships. In 1600's that is basically an ideal location for ironworks... If only there had been enough iron ore nearby, it would have been even better. But a good port in middle of forests is good enough. And while every finn does know the Fiskars, many don't know the fact that Fiskars still owns huge areas of forests... So much that much of it is outside Pohja. And the lands include several small lakes, some with Islands in them. The rest of the coat of arms is quite simple... It basically is a blue triangle on a silvery background, and the triangle represents our connection to the sea. And then there is a symbol in the middle that I think represents saint Mary, because the local church happends to be a medieval st. Mary's church, wich is not exactly the only such church in Europe... Sadly Pohja is also one of those that no longer exist as a municipality... And the city of Raasepori that replaced it has very boring coat of arms, it has just bunch of flowers on it and literally no other symbolism or meaning than just a reference to merging a number of towns together. They had plenty of things to draw meaning from past and present... There is actually even a castle, with quite an interesting backstory attached to it, about a man who once was, according to many, more powerfull than the king himself. But that is another story.
I think the coats of arms of places like Leppävirta, Raahe, Marttila and Perho are quite nice, and then a place called Jomala is just epic with a town name that sounds like the word for "god" and a coat of arms of a crowned man sitting on a throne, holding a dane axe in one hand and a Globus Crusiger in the other
Lappeenranta could be an interesting one to look at. There is etymological background needed to explain the reasoning, but it all makes sense. And is kind of historical stuff that goes way back to the roots.
Your picks are great 👍. We have seen too many handtools put in cross in eartern style ( hammer & weat cutter) but it presents only 1960 current local politic in that area. And it is boring way to make something. New t- shirts with the best ones is great idea for for ex.summer cottage owners or something for those who has connection in that area.
Our municipal heraldics is awesome. The Eno one (Eno has been part of Joensuu city since 2009) imo reflects two ways of life of forest, fur trade and forestry. Its name comes (according to wiki) from Karelian word meaning middle of the river with highest current. Also in Vantaa there's Tikkurila which gets its name of fur trade as tikkuri was a mesauring unit that consisted of ten furs. And four tikkuri's made one Kiihtelys (40 furs) we can see in the former municipality of Kiihtelysvaara, vaara meaning forested hill (also part of Joensuu these days).
In the Lappajärvi COA the rayonné at the bottom was originally explained as "flame rayonné", as it was believed at the time (according to wikipedia) that the lake was originally a volcanic crater.
Alot of the colours are symbolic but eastern coat of arms have a place or something of similar historic place. Black is loss,gold is glory,silver is honour and red is sacrifice. Thats how i was taught but everybody is welcome to correct if im wrong :)
Awesome video, hoping to get more of these Coat of Arms thoughts, very interesting because haven't given them much though although seen them all the time and everywhere. I myself am from Siilinjärvi and always liked our coat of arms: "On black field two billhooks in saltire, accompanied with water leaf on below of them; all gold." Always thinking that my choise of melee weapon would be twohanded billhook if things would go sideways and we ended up being in middle of a zombie apocalypse or new medieval ages... anyways, the second favorite is town of Pieksämäki coat of arms where i lived a good portion of my life including finding my wife: The arms show three club-arrows (or squirrel arrows) used in historical times for hunting in the area. Keep up the awesome work my man!
I have imagined that the Kuusamo and Lappajärvi coat of arm are similar in the sense that in the case of Kuusamo the flames represent the profile of the forest in the sunset horizon - simlarely the forest horizon is reflected of the surface of a still lake in the Lappajärvi coat of arm.
South and north savonian heraldry tends to have yellow/gold and black theme, as they are the region heraldry colors aswell with the bows pointing up for north and down for south savonia area.
That's what is so great for Goat of arms symbols, that they are so versatile for interpretations. That Kuusamo for example... Some say it's Aurora, some say it's forest, our treasure, some think it's a golden saw blade, since that's the tool that makes the money.
I was also thinking about the saw blade. It could also be the midnight sun, although technically it does not occur in Kuusamo but the nights are bright in summer, reading a book should be effortless outdoors as long as the sky is open.
In fact, the heraldic rules are quite strict. Only heraldic colors should be used in the coat of arms, which are gold and silver and red, blue, black and green. Usually only two colors are used, one of which must be metal. The plate does not include letters, numbers or texts. The coat of arms must be clear and readable according to the old rule, readable from the end of the arrow's range (200m). The coat of arms is an old autograph from which an illiterate person knows whose it is. The name is on the coat of arms as a picture. You can get a coat of arms either for yourself personally, for your family or for a club.
I think the boat in Lappajärvi's coat of arms might be the copper boat Väinämöinen basically sailed to Heaven with. That would explain it being above the aurora
Lappajärvi coat of arms. I have no idea, did some research. Says those are golden rays. I came up with couple ideas, but the simplest idea was that the golden rays are reflection of the sun on the surface of the water. And since the rays are quite dim, and the direction of the rays looking from the boat are left (west), it could be said that the sunrays are those of a setting sun.
Boat in Lappajärvi coat of arms comes form history of many first settlers in there were fishers. Big lake gave tons of fish hundresds years ago. Rare in that area with less lakes than eastern finland. 'Flames' under the boat comes from old theory of lake being crater of volacano. Havent you heard of 'Tulivuorimarket' or 'Tulivuorirock' finlands biggest rock festivals where many world famous bands visited first time ever in Finland in 70's (remember Boney M, Tina Turner, Bay City rollers, Darts, Rolling Stones anybody?) Later in 70's it was concluded that 10x18km lake was actually result of 500m meteor impact, creating 32m deep finlands biggest crater lake before ice age. Ice age then filled western bank of lake with sand and gravel, that's why lake is not fully round in summer. In winter satellite pics it is quite round though. Funny trivia fact that both theories brought doctor degree to researchers, who first 'proved' volcano histoy based on molten stone (kärnäiitti) found in Kärnänsaari irsland. It is 10 km long island which is actually impact bounce back 'tip' in the middle of the lake. In 70's next researcher got his degree by proving that molten stone is result of that massive impact. I suggest you to visit Pyhävuori hioghest point behind the lake and walk from guard tower down the hill towards lake. You will be surprised on huge bolders impact ripped away from from solid rock.All around the lake can be seen solid rock cracked deep into ground due to impact. You will have so much to discover from Lappajärvi still. Dig he ground a bit and you will find rocks with cracked dim smaragds up to 1 cm in diameter... Happy hunting!
The more you know. His name was Aleksis Kivi originally Aleksis Stenwall. Swedish name means stonewall but in finish it is just a rock. He lived in a period of time when we discovered that we are not swedish and started to create our own cultural identity so that's why he change his name. (If I remember correctly what I was told about as a child..)
Take a look at Karjala;s coat of arms. There is some history behind it. Just to mention, I have my "roots" in Karelian Isthmus, and like the coat of arms much, because it means so much, and the history behind it. Like Your blogg and keep going. From a Finn in Diaspora.
The last two verses of Kesäpäivä Kangasalla which the coat of arm refers to: "I'm but a bird, small and feeble, with wings that are little and weak. If only I were an eagle to fly to the clouds' white peak. To fly up and, always higher, 'way up to God's almighty throne To there trill forth my petition I'd sing to Him, praying and prone. Oh, Father, dear God in Heaven, Oh, hark to a small bird's prayer. How can your world be so lovely, how can your sky be so fair? Oh, pray let our lakes in brilliance shine forth like a torch, like a brand. Oh teach us, Father, instruct us to steadily love our fair land." (translated by Myrtha Kuusisto, from the book "Pieni kesäpäivä Kangasalla -lauluopas")
fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahti_Hammar This dude designed a lot of awesome coat of arms, including Inari, Eno, Multia. One special you missed (IMO) was Orimattila: A horse with a scythe.
And the fur of that animal was valuable, sable was hunted because the fur could be sold. By the way finnish word "raha" meant originally fur, sable fur, squirrel fur. It was currency in ancient times. People wear clothing made of fur, wealthy people in special.
Often when I travel in Finland and I mention that I am from Lappajärvi, I hear people say stuff like "Oh hey, my folks have a summer cottage there", which isn't that surprising seeing how Lappajärvi being a big lake a lot of people moved there during the years of famine to fish for food. Even the name Lappajärvi apparently originates from the word "lappalainen", which refers to an "outsider" or a person who's origins are somewhere else. So, when a ton of people started to move in, the lake was getting called "an outsider lake". But anyway, now you're telling me that if I ever go to Ireland, there's also gonna be people there saying "Oh, you're from Lappajarvi? My folks have a summer cottage there!"? :DD
Coat of arms of Lappajärvi is lake of course, that's why the blue color. The boat is the same. Bottom that fire was belief that lake is formed from volcano. In Lappajärvi were rock-happening, tulivuorirock (volcanorock) many, many years ago. I am from Lappajärvi, where your roots are from? What surname they had? I am from east side.
Part 2 is out now! ruclips.net/video/ArXnywV64eY/видео.html
Cheers for an awesome video :) Felt to mention, Nurmijärvi is the birthplace of Aleksis Kivi, our national author. Seitsemän veljestä, the seven brothers, is his main literary work - hence the brothers being in the Nurmijärvi herald.
Main, or most known perhaps but not the only one. Kivi did write many plays and at least 2 other books. Kanervala is his poetry book. And then Kullervo, Lea or Kihlaus are his plays. Most famous play is called Heath Cobblers , Nummisuutarit.
.. Seitsemän veljestä, which he wrote in Siuntio while living there with his patron, Charlotta Lönnqvist.
It looks like 7 Donald Trump..
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It used to be that the Lappajärvi lake was believed to be an old volcano, hence the flames below the ship.
However, the current understanding is that the lake is actually a crater from a meteor strike.
Volcano or meteor, both are pretty cool stories.
@@Ama-Elaini yet the meteorite story is backed by research :)
Did the people know of the volcano/meteor theory when the coat of arms was created? Did they even know such things existed? I have no idea how old the design is, so this is a genuine question.
I have a simpler idea. Even going by the name of the place, the lake is a very important place for the settlement. And they look more at the lake than the skies. It's just the aurora mirrored on the lake. Below the boat.
@@gebus5633 The volcano theory was incorrectly confirmed 1920 based on the rock samples taken from the area since 1858.
The Coat of Arms was designed 1957.
The suspicion about the lake actually being a crater, not a volcano, started 1967. This was confirmed either next year when the preliminary studies were finished, or 1976 when the final study to the lake's origin was released.
The area is still studied and dated using various methods, since the lake is either the largest or the second largest crater in Finland. (Didn't find out why there is contention, I presume the difference between #1 and #2 is pretty close.)
That's what I found out with a quick Googling. I hope I didn't get anything wrong.
@@TheRawrnstuff Cool to know. Didn't look into it myself earlier. Somehow I thought there would have been older history behind it. Like with the coat of arms of Lappeenranta. Granted, when it comes to more (centrally) organized settling it started earlier towards the coast.
Nurmijärvi arms is indeed the Seven Brothers. However, it's not a folk tale, but rather an original book by Finnish national writer Aleksisis Kivi, who came from Nurmijärvi.
By far the most unic coat of arms in Finland is the coat of armas of Vaasa, it has that royal feel to it👌
Definitely luv the beaver emblem - I’m Canadian and that one nailed it - a lumberjack werebeaver - epic!
It's my favourite one as well! But i am partial since it's my town.
@@ristoh1420 Now I don't want to visit Eno because can get killed by giant lumberjack beaver. 😁
Notice that the beaver also got a small erection. All that wood chopping got him overexcited obviously
@@terot8341 It just drinks you under a table, takes your women and raindeers and continue roaming.
I am a huge heraldry nerd and have to say we Finns usually do pretty well with heraldry even though I might be a bit biased. But the heraldic rules are so well followed in these examples that I have no objections. 😅
I've read that this is because Finnish municipal heralds are rather young (prior to 1949 only towns were allowed to have a CoA) and most are designed by expert heraldrists who wanted to follow traditional heraldric rules. There was a revival of traditional purist heraldry in 19th-20th centuries I think, which opposed early modern heraldry that had become very baroque and ornamental.
The lynx appearing in Janakkala's coat of arms reflects its central location in Tavastia quite well, because the Eurasian lynx is the official regional animal of Tavastia. Also, the coat of arms of Heinola, which is located in the Päijänne Tavastia region, features a lynx.
In Kangasala's coat of arms the harp symbolizes the musical culture (mainly the popular song Kesäpäivä Kangasalla and the famous old church organ factory) and the red droplets symbolize an old legend about the local church's walls crying blood.
And also a fun fact about the area: Kangasala's high school's music teacher has organized and held an Irish Music Festival there every year since 2018! This year it's moving to the larger nearby city of Tampere though. You should come in april and join the craic!
Actually, the red droplets are exactly like the Swedish symbol for a 18th century hand grenade, a ball-shaped grenade with a flaming fuse. It is still worn on modern artillery uniforms in Sweden. Did Kangasala have a grenadier or artillery regiment?
@@pergustavsson2424 No. Those droplets are blood. They come from old tale where innocent girl was accused of being a witch and was beheaded on a rock. That rock has been bleeding innocent blood ever since. Also that rock was used in the building of Kangasalas main church and you can see the stone when driving on Kangasalantie.
Hämy vai joku uudempi sankari?
The Multia arms comes from the fact that locals were back in the day called "Multian keltiäiset" or "Multia Yellow meadow ants". The black background (like possibly the yellow ant reference to people from Multia) comes from the root word for Multia "multa", which means "soil".
Thank you for this information! 👍🏻👍🏻
I heard that the yellow ants in the region are super aggressive defenders of their nests and their acid hurt a lot, and despite my grandmother lives there and I've visited her many times in the past, never had "the chance" to experience that :'D
Angry yellow ants are called also 'kusiainen' what is 'pissling' loosely translated. They piss acid all over to you.
@@KA-jm2cz This is actually a common misunderstanding. Yellow meadow ants have neither stings nor spray formic acid and are completely harmless. The one's called "kusiainen" (I think the "ainen" end is just short of "muurahainen" or "ant", so kusiainen would be a "piss ant") is "siloviholainen" (common red ant), which is often mistaken for the yellow meadow ant due to its orange-yellowish colour.
Also the stinging ants don't "piss" acid outside of folk-stories, but rather inflict venom through their stings. The formic ants that spray acid are the ones that build ant hills. Red ants, like yellow meadow ants live almost entirely underground or in dead trees and such.
This is nice. You should make this a mini-series and go over more of the coats of arms!
More! We demand more!
Generally, Finnish coats of arms are related to the place itself. Either they express the place name directly like Seinäjoki. Or they express things specific to the locality. There are reindeer and whitefish in Inari and Eno's beaver on the triple mountain refers to Eno's Majoinvaara, and the ax carried on its shoulder symbolizes logging and forestry. All coats of arms are explained on Wikipedia (the name of the municipality vaakuna), but unfortunately only in Finnish. The explanations are short and therefore the output of google translator is quite good.
According to the heraldry wiki, the Kangasala coat of arms, where the harp is a symbol for a song, A summerday in Kangsala. The drops are derived from a local legend involving crying stones...
This definitely piqued my interest too as a fellow Irishman
I loved the Inari so much I got it tattooed
Did you know that the color cheme of coat of arms represents the old provincial division in finland, like Savo, Karjala, Pojanmaa etc
I did not! That's awesome!
For centuries we have been the battle-field between two empires. That is why Finnish Lion has so many swords and many other coats-of-arms are very battle-heavy
Yes, the 7 Brothers takes place in Nurmijärvi. If you go to Helsinki, Aleksis Kivi's statue is right in front of the Finnish national theatre, and it's as glorious as it gets.
It is stated nowhere, where it takes place. It is one of classics of Finnish literature and author of the novel Aleksis Kivi was born there.
If you can, visit Ritarihuone in Helsinki to see al the coats of arms of noble families. Some of them are spectacular, others really weird.
It's nothing too special on its own, but I really like the coat of arms of my home town, Tervola. It's a picture of a silver crane, holding an onion on its beak. Every Autumn, I long for the moment the cranes leave for the winter. The air is extremely fresh and crispy, and the constant shouting of the cranes can be heard far and wide during ever darkening evenings as the temperature drops. And then they fly away in a formation, reminding us of the upcoming winter. It's something truly magical. 😊
The coat of arms of Varkaus symbolizes ship building and industry in general. In 1830 Gustaf Werde founded the ironworks in Varkaus, mainly because there were large forests, rivers and waterways around. The anchor also symbolizes Varkaus as an inland port. The old canal was build in 1835-1840.
I'd follow about the colours he mentioned with Coat of Arms of Varkaus: Black and Gold are colours of Savonia, which is why most Municipalities there carry it in Coat of Arms.
Same with Black and Red in Karelia.
*Wrede
Thanks for another cool video. Here are a few comments:
2:20 the fire below the boat in the Lappajärvi coat of arms has something to do with the fact that Lake Lappajärvi was thought to be an old volcano crater. Actually the lake is an old meteorite impact crater, from an impact that took place 77 - 78 million years ago.
3:33 Varkaus is an industrial city, with a long history of boat and ship building. Hence the arm holding the anchor.
4:20 Lynx is the regional animal of Häme. It is also seen in the regional coat or arms, and the old provincial coat of arms. Several cities and municipalities of the region have the lynx in some form.
4:48 Finland's national author, Aleksis Kivi was born in Nurmijärvi, by the lake Tuusulanjärvi.
Kivi is the author who wrote the Seven Brothers, the first major novel in Finnish language in 1870. It is based on his own imagination, so it is not actually a folk tale.
Fantastic info! Cheers for this 👍🏻👍🏻
All the sybols, shapes and animals have some local meaning befind them, if you wonder something, study that coats local hisory and it will propably be clear.
I love heraldry and find it so endearing that even the smallest towns in Finland have their own coats of arms. Also the themes aren't too bombastic and fit within the framework of Finnish culture. Instead of horses you see people riding bears and instead swords you see clubs.
CoA of Nivala is actually quite cool because if you look closely you can see the letter N in the gate.
Your videos have some mystical and fascinating atmosphere that keep me watching these kind of videos.
There are Eno hoodies, my friend got one over the christmas, i got a coffee filter holder and a cloth bag with the coat of arms on them. Also will get a tattoo of it down the line. Great to see my birth place in a video!
I'll have to take a look for these! 🤟🏻🤟🏻
Kangasala harp and eagle are both references to the "Kesäpäivä Kangasalla", the Pirkanmaa regional song. The blood refers to the legend of Kuussalon Kaarina. Beautiful maiden who charmed a nobleman, was wrongfully accused of witchcraft and executed. As her last words, Kaarina woved that the stone, on which she was to be beheaded, would bleed forever as a sign of her innocence. The story goes that it (being iron ore) did indeed "bleed" during rain. The famous "Verikivi" is located in the outer wall of Kangasal church.
Sounds like first people saw that stone bled, wondered why, and they came up with story about Kaarina to explain it.
@@valivali8104 It's a 17th century folktale, made popular by a 19th century ballad. There are no historical records of Kaarina Kuussalo or this particular event. Personally, I have never seen the stone bleed. Nevertheless, the story is well known in Kangasala.
@@tuomaskoivurinne1653 maybe there isn’t enough iron for "bleeding" anymore?
Do you have any idea why the harp is shaped like that..? Ie why it is an ‘eagle harp’, and not just a harp?
@@davidkasquare "Mä vain olen lintu pieni, ja siipeni heikot on; vaan oisinko uljas kotka, niin nousisin lentohon.." Kotka = eagle.
Kurikka used to have a cool one with crossed spiked clubs and a moose head, but with joining of municipalities we ended up with a new one, a simple one representing a woodworking joint, which is thematically and historically ok, but nowhere near as cool as the old one.
MULTIA mentioned!(grab's a beer) No, seriously I was suprised that my birthplace occured here suddenly. A small place in middle of nowhere, where I grew up following my grandfather.. Old man taught me forrestry, game wardening, fishing and hunting. Always hard working and man of a word, but still calm and caring. Fun fact behind the ant in c-o-a, it comes from mentality of the locals. "Working like ants" thats the tale in short and all that mentality shined from my grandfather, like the other locals at time. Although im not living there anymore, my heart and memories with my grandfather belong there. Remembering that allways brings wide smile to me and shed a tear.🥲
Thank you for this fine moment!
That's great to hear! And be proud of your birthplace coat of arms, it's really awesome
I just love how much Janakkala's CoA tells you without becoming overloaded with details.
Old, major Center of Faith (both as itself and as part of Vanaja)
Several old sites of defences (Fort hills, castles)
Strong ties to, being the core of Häme itself (old Häme, before splitting up to Hämeenlinna/Tavastia, Vanaja etc.)
Finnish heraldics are awesome. First of all the whole Finnish coat of arms lion stomping on eastern style sword while holding western sword tells a lot of finnish mindset even nowadays. And then we have Karelian coat of arms. The battleground between the east and the west. But if you really want to scratch your hear check out municipalities of Rautjärvi and Outokumpu. One is from Southern Karelia and the other one from Northern Karelia. But after that there is no obvious connection between those two.
There's a simple explanation for the coat of arms of Outokumpu and Rautjärvi. There's a copper mine in Outokumpu, and the female symbol is also the symbol of Venus, which is associated with the metal copper. Rautjärvi is related to iron, hence the symbol there
@@nthmaster3077 That's true and I knew that. But it needs understanding of finnish language (raut-> rauta = iron), knowledge of Outokumpu, knowledge of alchemic symbols, to understand that they are mostly not connected.
Lappajärvi flames are based on old (and false) idea that Lappajärvi lake was old volcano crater.
Also guy who wrote 7 Brothers was born in Nurmijärvi, hence 7 heads.
Kangasala. There is a song called 'Kesäpäivä Kangasalla ' hence the harp. Apparently there is a stone weeping blood in Kangasala church.
Multia. People living in Multia were called "Multian keltiäiset" (Multia Yellow meadow ants) for being laborious. Hence the golden ant.
Lappajärvi coat of arms; At the bottom is a corona of flames, symbolising a volcano crater according to the beliefs of the time..
🤟🏻🤟🏻🤟🏻🤟🏻
My personal favorite might be the Coat of Arms of Kruununhaka.
It's the Finland's Lion, wearing a crown, and finding a much fancier crown just lying around while trudging in waist-high water.
Fitting coat of arms :D
@@lottaraatikainen3942 They don't officially, some guy just made them for fun
I've always liked the coa of Lapland. Just a wildman with his club. Pretty striking imagery and judging by your favourites, you might like that one as well😀
Not a wildman, a giant!
I was born in Kangasala but moved to a city next to it. The harp is there to represent the folk song and drops of blood around it represent the legend of the bleeding church stone. It's said that one of the stones they used to build the Kangasala church bleeds every now and then because that exact slab was one of the stones used during the witch trials in Kangasala! It was reused to build the church and ever since then the stone started "crying blood" to prove the innocence of one of the witches. It's pretty easy to spot on one of the church walls if you're ever visiting! It really is reddish and drips.. 😁 (obviously an iron ore)
As a newbie Janakkalalainen I am happy to see that you like our coat of arms that much. It really is an awesome one.
I think that Lappajärvi's coat of arm is about the meteor strike that made the Lappajärvi-lake. Living in central Finland I have seen the Multia CoA many times and I like it too very much. And you are right on point of Nurmijärvi. I think my favorite is Kokkola because it is the towon where I was born and the CoA is really cool. Good video, thanks again!
The "fire" below the boat in the Lappajärvi CoA actually symbolizes an old belief that the lake was an ancient volcanic caldera, but it has indeed been proven scientifically that it's an impact crater.
@@Kristofburger still works 🤷🏼♀️
Fantaaaastic video, thanks for letting us all discover such beautiful coats of arms!! ❤
Glad you enjoyed!
The old coat of arms of Kaarina( named after pyhä Katariina, Catherine of Alexandria) was called as katariinanpyörä (Wheel of Catherine) a torture device used from antiquity until it was banned in Europe in 1800's.
My home municipality changed their coat of arms when they merged with a neighbor town and I'm very bitter about it, because the original coat of arms was very unique and the new one was an extremely basic one.
I am gonna get aspects of the original tattooed on my arm though.
The Sipoo coat of arms with the silver wolf on the black background is awesome!
My favourite has to be the now obsolete Honkajoki coat of arms, with the sahtihaarikka (traditional beer drinking vessel).
I'll try find this one! 👍🏻👍🏻
I got a video idea for you. You should do a video on the ancient Finnish Kingdom Kvenland (And it's King Faravid Kaukomieli.)
Also the kven language is considered 'old finnish' and it's mostly spoken northern Norway, most notably in the small fishing town of Pykeija. Pretty intresting.
Thank you for the compliments from Kangasala!
Nurmijärvis coat of arms has seven brothers cause the book is written by Aleksis Kivi. And he was born in nurmijärvi.
Janakkala really has branded that lynx here you can see cartoon lynx doing all kinds of stuff (it is different from that crest but still we relly love the lynx)
5:10 Aleksis Kivi (the dude who wrote the Seitsemän Veljestä) lived in Nurmijärvi and there's speculation that Impivaara (place in the book) actually represents Taaborinvuori. Aleksis was born in Nurmijärvi (very close to Taaborinvuori in 1834) and died in Tuusula (1872).
According to Finnish Wikipedia:
The "fire" under the boat in the Lappajärvi coat of arms is referencing a legend about how the lake (Lappajärvi) was thought to be a volcanic crater. Nowadays we know it's a meteoric crater instead.
The ant on the coat of arms of Multia refers to an old nickname for the local population, basically "The Yellow Ants of Multianen", unsure why though
don't know, but at least according to the Nurmijärvi "tourism" page, that is in fact where the story of the seven brothers takes place, though that probably has more to do with that it was where the author of said story lived.
Kangasala's one gets the harp from a song about the location, and the drops surrounding it about a stroy of a crying rock in a church somewhere there.
The blood droplets on Kangasala's coat of arms are from an old legend.
According to legend a woman was beheaded for being a witch. Now the same rock is a part of the local churches wall and when it rains, the rust in the stone looks as if it's bleeding.
There's also some lore about a giant named Riku, that lived in Riku, and in anger tossed a bunch of rocks in the middle of Vesijärvi(a lake creatively named waterlake). Now those rocks are small islands on the lake and are called Riku's stones/Riku's rocks.
That's awesome, thank you for this info!
Fun video, my personal favorite Coat of Arms is the one of my childhood home of Heinävesi
Good video once again! Please check out Pihtipudas, its the northernmost municipality of keski-Suomi (central finland) also the home of all my family and me included. The spearheads represent the spear throwing carnevals, always held at Pihtipudas. Cheers!🎉
Edit. No it wasnt the spear carneval XD, anyway check the wikipedia article ”Pihtiputaan Vaakuna”
I Will indeed!
Nurmijärvi is where the 7 brothers book stories happen at. It is arguably the first Finnish language novel ever written.
There is, or at least was, a motorcycle club MC Jukola in Nurmijärvi and their logo is/was like that coat of arms but the heads were replaced with skulls. In my opinion that was a genius idea.
In a fact the book says that the story happens in southern Tavast... So it can't be Nurmijärvi, since Nurmijärvi is in Nylands... But the writer/author Aleksis Kivi was a resident of Nurmijärvi, that's why the story is so important to Nurmijärvi.
@@mikkorenvall428 Nykyinen Häme ja ns. historiallinen Häme eivät ole rajoiltaan yhteneväiset.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavastia_(historical_province)
I really like the coat of arms of Oulu. I'm from that area and have seen it around since I was a kid. It has a castle and a salmon but the caste windows look like eyes and the salmon looks like a mustache. Though the one for my own village was also funny, a fish getting ele ctrocuted by three lightning bolts.
Nivala yassss! It's called here "Nivala rinki" and it's a specific type of a gate that is attached to a pasture or a field, plus the obvious big N and rest of the hidden letters. Nivala is a big producer of milk, so anything and everyrhing related to cows is the local nieche.
5:40 KANGASALA MENTIONED LETS GO TO MARKET!!! that is btw my home town those red dots are resembled as blood drops that symbols the stone called ''verikivi''(eng. bloodstone) its location is at the wall of kangasala's stone church and it has very long history behind it. legend says that when it rains it looks like the stone is crying blood because an inocent soul was murdered on it (you can find some of it by just typing kangasala blood stone history) i dont know the history of the eagle and the harp
Both Finnish and Swedish Laplands coat of arms includes a almost-naked wildman with a club. They're both the northernest parts of our contries.
I think the fire in Lappajärvi coa has something to do with the meteor, which created the Lappajärvi-lake in some prehistoric era.
A great video idea this one! I didn't know we have such crazy and cool ones like the ones in the video😂
This kind of reactions you don't see too often! Very cool.
Please do more of these!
The coat of arms of my home town is one that is easy to misunderstand... Most who don't understand the symbols used would see two "male symbols" in it, but actually they are symbols for iron.
And Pohja does have a long history with iron. As some people know Pohja is also that one place where Fiskars is both a company and a village. What most people don't know, is the fact that the Fiskars ironworks had a priviledge (not sure if that is proper translation) to operate an iron mine in Stockholm, wich would be the very same Stockholm most people know as the capital city of Sweden. The rights for that mine existed since the founding of the ironworks in 1600's to the War of Finland in 1809.
In case if you are wondering why would the king of Sweden really give rights to a mine to ironworks on the other side of the baltic sea, to a town that is not even really on sea shore, but miles inland... Even if there is a passage that is navigable even with modern freighters (rather smallish by modern standards, but still)... And that reason would be in the way iron was processed before the industrial revolution. At the time charcoal was the only fuel that was clean enough to make decent iron or steel. And that means it takes a lot of wood to make iron. And the one place where wood has allways been plenty, is Finland. And like I said Pohja is located several miles inland yet accessible by ships. In 1600's that is basically an ideal location for ironworks... If only there had been enough iron ore nearby, it would have been even better. But a good port in middle of forests is good enough.
And while every finn does know the Fiskars, many don't know the fact that Fiskars still owns huge areas of forests... So much that much of it is outside Pohja. And the lands include several small lakes, some with Islands in them.
The rest of the coat of arms is quite simple... It basically is a blue triangle on a silvery background, and the triangle represents our connection to the sea. And then there is a symbol in the middle that I think represents saint Mary, because the local church happends to be a medieval st. Mary's church, wich is not exactly the only such church in Europe...
Sadly Pohja is also one of those that no longer exist as a municipality... And the city of Raasepori that replaced it has very boring coat of arms, it has just bunch of flowers on it and literally no other symbolism or meaning than just a reference to merging a number of towns together. They had plenty of things to draw meaning from past and present... There is actually even a castle, with quite an interesting backstory attached to it, about a man who once was, according to many, more powerfull than the king himself. But that is another story.
I think the coats of arms of places like Leppävirta, Raahe, Marttila and Perho are quite nice, and then a place called Jomala is just epic with a town name that sounds like the word for "god" and a coat of arms of a crowned man sitting on a throne, holding a dane axe in one hand and a Globus Crusiger in the other
Beaver with an axe and a raging hard-on is certainly a coat-of-arms that's hard to beat.
Ahh, that skyrim tavern music in the background is super comfy♡
Kuortane. It's a fish with three flames over it. Old folklore says that the locals burned a lake and decided to add flames to their coat of arms
Lappeenranta could be an interesting one to look at. There is etymological background needed to explain the reasoning, but it all makes sense. And is kind of historical stuff that goes way back to the roots.
Your picks are great 👍. We have seen too many handtools put in cross in eartern style ( hammer & weat cutter) but it presents only 1960 current local politic in that area. And it is boring way to make something. New t- shirts with the best ones is great idea for for ex.summer cottage owners or something for those who has connection in that area.
Coat of arms of Orimattila should be included on every list. Pure badassery.
Came to give the same suggestion.
Our municipal heraldics is awesome. The Eno one (Eno has been part of Joensuu city since 2009) imo reflects two ways of life of forest, fur trade and forestry. Its name comes (according to wiki) from Karelian word meaning middle of the river with highest current. Also in Vantaa there's Tikkurila which gets its name of fur trade as tikkuri was a mesauring unit that consisted of ten furs. And four tikkuri's made one Kiihtelys (40 furs) we can see in the former municipality of Kiihtelysvaara, vaara meaning forested hill (also part of Joensuu these days).
In the Lappajärvi COA the rayonné at the bottom was originally explained as "flame rayonné", as it was believed at the time (according to wikipedia) that the lake was originally a volcanic crater.
You have to check out the coat of arms of Tuulos. A no-longer existing municipality in Häme.
Alot of the colours are symbolic but eastern coat of arms have a place or something of similar historic place.
Black is loss,gold is glory,silver is honour and red is sacrifice. Thats how i was taught but everybody is welcome to correct if im wrong :)
Im honored that you liked most of my birthplace coat of arm x) that pic is burnt to my mind from birth!
Awesome video, hoping to get more of these Coat of Arms thoughts, very interesting because haven't given them much though although seen them all the time and everywhere. I myself am from Siilinjärvi and always liked our coat of arms: "On black field two billhooks in saltire, accompanied with water leaf on below of them; all gold." Always thinking that my choise of melee weapon would be twohanded billhook if things would go sideways and we ended up being in middle of a zombie apocalypse or new medieval ages... anyways, the second favorite is town of Pieksämäki coat of arms where i lived a good portion of my life including finding my wife: The arms show three club-arrows (or squirrel arrows) used in historical times for hunting in the area. Keep up the awesome work my man!
Shout out from here, Janakkala!😍 from Turenki to be precise😁
We need part 2
the instrument that you tought was harp might be stylised version of kantele.A local string instrument
I have imagined that the Kuusamo and Lappajärvi coat of arm are similar in the sense that in the case of Kuusamo the flames represent the profile of the forest in the sunset horizon - simlarely the forest horizon is reflected of the surface of a still lake in the Lappajärvi coat of arm.
I think that kuusamo aura is Aurora Borealis, Northern Lights, Revontulet at Finnish.
my favorite is Kokkola's coat of arms. tar barrel in flames.
South and north savonian heraldry tends to have yellow/gold and black theme, as they are the region heraldry colors aswell with the bows pointing up for north and down for south savonia area.
That's what is so great for Goat of arms symbols, that they are so versatile for interpretations. That Kuusamo for example... Some say it's Aurora, some say it's forest, our treasure, some think it's a golden saw blade, since that's the tool that makes the money.
I was also thinking about the saw blade. It could also be the midnight sun, although technically it does not occur in Kuusamo but the nights are bright in summer, reading a book should be effortless outdoors as long as the sky is open.
Yeah that's true! Very good point!
In fact, the heraldic rules are quite strict. Only heraldic colors should be used in the coat of arms, which are gold and silver and red, blue, black and green. Usually only two colors are used, one of which must be metal. The plate does not include letters, numbers or texts. The coat of arms must be clear and readable according to the old rule, readable from the end of the arrow's range (200m). The coat of arms is an old autograph from which an illiterate person knows whose it is. The name is on the coat of arms as a picture.
You can get a coat of arms either for yourself personally, for your family or for a club.
I think the boat in Lappajärvi's coat of arms might be the copper boat Väinämöinen basically sailed to Heaven with. That would explain it being above the aurora
Kiitos. Hienoa ❤️❤️
Lappajärvi coat of arms. I have no idea, did some research. Says those are golden rays. I came up with couple ideas, but the simplest idea was that the golden rays are reflection of the sun on the surface of the water. And since the rays are quite dim, and the direction of the rays looking from the boat are left (west), it could be said that the sunrays are those of a setting sun.
Boat in Lappajärvi coat of arms comes form history of many first settlers in there were fishers. Big lake gave tons of fish hundresds years ago. Rare in that area with less lakes than eastern finland.
'Flames' under the boat comes from old theory of lake being crater of volacano.
Havent you heard of 'Tulivuorimarket' or 'Tulivuorirock' finlands biggest rock festivals where many world famous bands visited first time ever in Finland in 70's (remember Boney M, Tina Turner, Bay City rollers, Darts, Rolling Stones anybody?)
Later in 70's it was concluded that 10x18km lake was actually result of 500m meteor impact, creating 32m deep finlands biggest crater lake before ice age. Ice age then filled western bank of lake with sand and gravel, that's why lake is not fully round in summer. In winter satellite pics it is quite round though.
Funny trivia fact that both theories brought doctor degree to researchers, who first 'proved' volcano histoy based on molten stone (kärnäiitti) found in Kärnänsaari irsland. It is 10 km long island which is actually impact bounce back 'tip' in the middle of the lake. In 70's next researcher got his degree by proving that molten stone is result of that massive impact. I suggest you to visit Pyhävuori hioghest point behind the lake and walk from guard tower down the hill towards lake. You will be surprised on huge bolders impact ripped away from from solid rock.All around the lake can be seen solid rock cracked deep into ground due to impact.
You will have so much to discover from Lappajärvi still. Dig he ground a bit and you will find rocks with cracked dim smaragds up to 1 cm in diameter... Happy hunting!
Lappajärvi has that golden thing at the bottom most likely because that lake was made by meteor.
The author of 7 brothers was from Nurmijärvi.
Aha! There we go 👌🏻
The more you know. His name was Aleksis Kivi originally Aleksis Stenwall. Swedish name means stonewall but in finish it is just a rock. He lived in a period of time when we discovered that we are not swedish and started to create our own cultural identity so that's why he change his name. (If I remember correctly what I was told about as a child..)
Do you know anything about the village of Ojaniemi? It's almost impossible to find anything in English.
Take a look at Karjala;s coat of arms.
There is some history behind it.
Just to mention, I have my "roots" in Karelian Isthmus, and like the coat of arms much, because it means so much, and the history behind it.
Like Your blogg and keep going.
From a Finn in Diaspora.
7 brothers literary actually do have a lot of places mentioned. Most of mentions are not any town names but rather villages or other locations.
Harp is kantele, in Finland.
The last two verses of Kesäpäivä Kangasalla which the coat of arm refers to:
"I'm but a bird, small and feeble, with wings that are little and weak. If only I were an eagle to fly to the clouds' white peak.
To fly up and, always higher, 'way up to God's almighty throne
To there trill forth my petition I'd sing to Him, praying and prone.
Oh, Father, dear God in Heaven, Oh, hark to a small bird's prayer. How can your world be so lovely, how can your sky be so fair?
Oh, pray let our lakes in brilliance shine forth like a torch, like a brand. Oh teach us, Father, instruct us to steadily love our fair land."
(translated by Myrtha Kuusisto, from the book "Pieni kesäpäivä Kangasalla -lauluopas")
So I've seen you in Lappajärvi! I thought I saw wrong. XD
fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahti_Hammar This dude designed a lot of awesome coat of arms, including Inari, Eno, Multia. One special you missed (IMO) was Orimattila: A horse with a scythe.
The animal in Nokia coat of arms is sable (soopeli in finnish). It was called nokinäätä in the old times. Thus the town Nokia!
And the fur of that animal was valuable, sable was hunted because the fur could be sold. By the way finnish word "raha" meant originally fur, sable fur, squirrel fur. It was currency in ancient times. People wear clothing made of fur, wealthy people in special.
Often when I travel in Finland and I mention that I am from Lappajärvi, I hear people say stuff like "Oh hey, my folks have a summer cottage there", which isn't that surprising seeing how Lappajärvi being a big lake a lot of people moved there during the years of famine to fish for food. Even the name Lappajärvi apparently originates from the word "lappalainen", which refers to an "outsider" or a person who's origins are somewhere else. So, when a ton of people started to move in, the lake was getting called "an outsider lake".
But anyway, now you're telling me that if I ever go to Ireland, there's also gonna be people there saying "Oh, you're from Lappajarvi? My folks have a summer cottage there!"? :DD
Coat of arms of Lappajärvi is lake of course, that's why the blue color. The boat is the same. Bottom that fire was belief that lake is formed from volcano. In Lappajärvi were rock-happening, tulivuorirock (volcanorock) many, many years ago. I am from Lappajärvi, where your roots are from? What surname they had? I am from east side.