Private Heraldry
The oldest known coat of arms in Finland is in the seal of Bertold, vouti (sheriff) of Häme Castle (1297).
The coats of arms of the Finnish nobility are recorded by the Finnish House of Nobility. The last ennoblement was 1912. Coronets of rank are the same as in Swedish heraldry.
After the renaissance of municipal heraldry, burgher arms also became popular. Burgher arms were used in Finland in the 17th and 18th centuries by wealthy merchants, priests, officers and magistrates, but in many cases by one generation only and they became rare after a royal statute against “use of ‘noble shield and open helmet’ by burghers, 1762”. In fact, non-noble family heraldry now began from almost nothing. The Heraldic Society of Finland began to keep an unofficial register of burgher arms, which was published in 2006 as an armorial, containing 1356 arms. The Swedish edict against “use of ‘noble shield and open helmet’ by burghers" is still respected and The Heraldic Society of Finland does take in its register burgher arms only with tilting helmet. Each President of Finland needs a coat of arms as a member of Order of the Seraphim in Sweden and for Order of the Elephant in Denmark.
Finnish heraldry is a very vivid interest amongst the practitioners of historical re-enactment, LARP and living history.
Read more about this topic: Finnish Heraldry
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