Postal History of Finland

Finland is a Nordic country in northern Europe, known for its snowy winters, beautiful forests, and thousands of lakes.

Finland's first postage stamp was issued in 1856 when the country was part of the Russian Empire. The early stamps were written in Swedish, the official language at the time, and later included Finnish and Russian. After gaining independence in 1917, Finland (Suomi) began issuing stamps with its own national identity.

Stamps Through the Years

1856: Finland issued its first postage stamp, featuring the Russian imperial coat of arms. It was inscribed in Swedish as “Finlands Post.”
1875: The first stamps with both Finnish (Suomi) and Swedish (Finland) text were issued.
1891: Stamps began featuring Russian Cyrillic text (“Финляндия”) due to stricter Russian influence.
1917: Finland declared independence from Russia and stopped using Russian text on stamps.
1918: The first stamps of independent Finland were released, now using only “Suomi” (Finland in Finnish).
1927: On 6th December, Finland issued its first commemorative stamps to mark the tenth anniversary of its independence.
1930: Finland issued its first airmail stamp.
1989: The first self-adhesive stamps were introduced.
2002: Finland switched to the euro, and its stamps began showing prices in euros instead of Finnish marks.

Did You Know?

Finland’s first stamp, the 1856 "Finnish Coat of Arms," is one of the rarest stamps in the world.
During Russian rule, some Finnish stamps had to include the face of the Russian Tsar.
Finland was one of the first countries to introduce stamps that could be read by machines for faster sorting.
Finland issued the world’s first crossword puzzle stamp in 1999. The stamp featured a real crossword puzzle that people could solve.

A selection of Finnish stamps.