2020-02-28 Fri

February 28 is one of Finland's official flag days. It is known as the Kalevala Day or the Finnish Culture Day.

The Kalevala is the national epic of Finland and Karelia as well as one of the most important works of Finnish literature. It was compiled by poetry collector and philologist Elias Lonnrot from Finnish and Karelian mythology and oral folklore. Lonnrot began to collect folk poetry and songs in 1828, but the real work began in the early 1830s. First version of The Kalevala was published on 28th February 1835.

His goal was to preserve traditional Finnish poetry that existed only in the oral tradition and began to disappear due to the growing popularity of European rhymed poetry. The Kalevala made a significant contribution to the development of the Finnish national identity and the intensification of Finland's language strife. This process in Finnish society eventually led to the adoption of the Finnish declaration of independence in 1917.

Finnish Post issued a set of three stamps two commemorate Centenary of the National Epic Kalevala. The Souvenir sheet is shown above consists of the three stamps with 3.00 markka each. The stamp depicts Ancient jewelry comprised of horse buckle, bird buckle, and a buckle. The souvenir sheet depicts the design of cave paintings and an old bead necklace.

Image Courtesy: colnect

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