Medals and decorations 

Order of the White Rose of Finland and Order of the Lion of Finland are decorations that the President of Finland awards to distinguished persons on Finland’s Independence Day, 6 December.

Our job is to ask municipal councils, wellbeing services counties and joint municipal authorities for education by administrative branch to submit their nominations on individuals to be honoured. We ask that the administrative branches of the following ministries submit nominations for individuals to be honoured on Independence Day: 

• Ministry of Education and Culture
• Ministry of the Interior
• Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
• Ministry of Finance

We will forward the proposals to the ministries. Each Regional State Administrative Agency can only put forward a certain number of names, which means that not all nominees necessarily make the list. The Board of the Orders will present a final list of candidates to the President of the Republic of Finland.  

Each ministry sends its own instructions by administrative branch at the beginning of the year, and after this, we launch the preparation of nominations  

Honours to be awarded on Independence Day 2025 now up for application

The Regional State Administrative Agencies ask that all nominations on the recipients of the honours to be awarded on Independence Day 2025 related to the above-mentioned administrative branches be submitted no later than on 30 April 2025. For more information and instructions, see our press release published on 25 February 2025 (in Finnish): 

• Nominations for the honours to be awarded on Independence Day must be submitted no later than 30 April.

The decoration awarded to accomplished mothers by the President of the Republic of Finland on Mother’s Day is a first-class medal of the Order of the White Rose of Finland with a golden cross.  

Regional State Administrative Agencies welcome nominations for the Mother’s Day honours from local authorities, churches, non-governmental organisations and clubs as well as nominees’ own children.  

Mothers from all different walks of life can be honoured. Previous recipients include mothers who have shown exemplary dedication to parenting children and adolescents, been actively involved in their local community or promoted families and parenthood through their actions. Special attention is given to representatives of minority groups. The number of children that each nominee has is not a decisive factor. In addition to biological mothers, adoptive and foster mothers can also be nominated. The minimum age for candidates is 40 years.  

The Mother’s Day honours also celebrate mothers who have contributed to community parenting through, for example, child welfare or family organisations, youth and sports clubs or other community initiatives. Education professionals who are not parents themselves cannot be nominated for the Mother’s Day honours.  

Other accomplished caregivers, such as fathers, siblings and other close relatives, can be honoured in connection with the annual awards ceremony on Finland’s Independence Day on 6 December.  

Regional State Administrative Agencies’ aim in compiling the final list is to achieve a balanced regional and linguistic distribution of nominees.  

Both the Board of the Order of the White Rose of Finland and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health have prepared a template for nominations for the Mother’s Day honours. Nominations submitted to Regional State Administrative Agencies are compiled into lists, which are then forwarded to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health uses the lists prepared by Regional State Administrative Agencies to select the candidates to be presented to the Board of the Order of the White Rose of Finland. The awards ceremony is held on Mother’s Day each year and hosted by the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare. 

The decoration awarded to accomplished fathers by the President of the Republic of Finland on Father’s Day is a first-class medal of the Order of the White Rose of Finland with a golden cross (SVR M I kr).  

Father's Day honours will be awarded for the first time on Father's Day 2025 on 9 November 2025.

Nominations for Father's Day honours can be made by local authorities, churches, associations and clubs as well as the nominees’ own children. Applications for the Father's Day honours and medals awarded to fathers is free of charge. 

Fathers from all different walks of life can be honoured. Previous recipients include fathers who have shown exemplary dedication to parenting children and adolescents, been actively involved in their local community or promoted families and parenthood through their actions. The number of children that each nominee has is not a decisive factor. In addition to biological fathers, adoptive and foster fathers can also be nominated. The minimum age for candidates is 40 years.

The Father’s Day honours also celebrate fathers who have contributed to community parenting through, for example, child welfare or family organisations, youth and sports clubs or other community initiatives. Education professionals cannot though be nominated for the Father’s Day honours.

Regional State Administrative Agencies’ aim in compiling the final list is to achieve a balanced regional distribution of nominees.

Application process 

• Proposals for recipients of Father's Day honours need to be submitted to the Regional State Administrative Agency with the Board of the Orders' template for nominations and an appendix to the Father's Day decoration application. Proposals must be made no later than 14 March 2025.
• Proposals for recipients of honours should be submitted signed and by mail to the Regional State Administrative Agency in the area where the nominee lives.
• We will review the nominations and make our proposals for recipients of honours to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, which will then submit a honours proposal to the Board of the Orders. The honours will be awarded at a national awards ceremony held on Father’s Day, which will be organised by the Family Federation of Finland. 

Father's Day honours for 2025 available

The Regional State Administrative Agencies request proposals for the recipients of the 2025 Father's Day honors by March 28, 2025. For more information see:

• Father’s Day decoration (suomi.fi)
• Press release in Finnish (avi.fi)
• Press release in Swedish (avi.fi)

The Life Saving Medal is given out in recognition of bravery, resourcefulness or risking one’s own life to save that of another person. The medal has often been awarded to a person who has put his or her life at risk when saving another person.

The Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland issues opinions to the Life Saving Medal Committee on the proposals for the medals and also performs secretarial duties for the Life Saving Medal Committee.

The Life Saving Medal Committee reviews nominations and the Ministry of the Interior presents acceptable candidates to the President of the Republic of Finland for approval.

Nominees must be put forward within five years of the end of the calendar year during which they performed their heroic act. 

The competent authority is the Regional State Administrative Agency in whose jurisdiction the act of bravery was performed. In the case of heroic acts performed abroad, the nomination letter should be sent to the registry of the Regional State Administrative Agency in whose jurisdiction the nominee or the rescued person resides. A link to the contact information of Regional State Administrative Agencies’ registries is provided at the bottom of this page.

Further information 

• Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland, Ilkka Heinonen, Senior Officer, Rescue Services, tel. +358 (0)295 016 042 
• Regional State Administrative Agency for Eastern Finland, Mari Kiminki, Administrative Officer, Rescue Services, tel. +358 (0)29 501 6926 
• Regional State Administrative Agency for Lapland, Seppo Lehto, Senior Officer, Rescue Services, tel. +358 (0)29 501 7357 
• Regional State Administrative Agency for Southwestern Finland, Pirjo Tuominen, Administrative Officer, Rescue Services, tel. +358 (0)29 501 8063 
• Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and Inland Finland, Tove Lindell, Management Advisor, tel. +358 (0)29 501 8510 
• Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland, Jorma Pikkarainen, Senior Officer, Rescue Services, tel. +358 (0)295 017 618.

The Medal of Merit of Civil Defence is awarded for meritorious conduct in combating threats that could jeopardise civilians and civilian life. 

We welcome nominations from local authorities, rescue departments and other civil defence organisations and forward them to the Ministry of the Interior. Medals of Merit of Civil Defence are presented by the Minister of the Interior, and there are two classes: first-class medals are awarded for highly meritorious and second-class medals for meritorious work for the good of civil defence. 

Medals of Merit of Civil Defence are awarded biennially.  

Further information 

Regional State Administrative Agency for Southwestern Finland, Pirjo Tuominen, Emergency Services Officer, tel. +358 (0)29 501 8063 

In peacetime, the Order of the Cross of Liberty recognises meritorious contributions to the Finnish Defence Forces, national defence and especially voluntary national defence as well as Finland’s security situation.  

Nominations are welcomed from government agencies, non-governmental organisations and individual citizens alike. Regional State Administrative Agencies’ role is to forward nomination letters to the Ministry of the Interior. 

Medals of the Order of the Cross of Liberty are usually given out twice a year. Officers of the Finnish Defence Forces and the Border Guard are recognised on the Flag Day of the Finnish Defence Forces on 4 June. Medals awarded to other recipients are presented on Finland’s Independence Day on 6 December. In some circumstances, award ceremonies can also be held at other times. 

We submit nominations for the Military Merit Medal to the Ministry of the Interior by the end of January each year. The Ministry of the Interior compiles a list of all nominees and presents it to the Defence Command. 

Military Merit Medals are presented by the Chief of Defence and commander of the Finnish Defence Forces. The awards ceremony usually coincides with the Flag Day of the Finnish Defence Forces, which is celebrated annually on 4 June. A Military Merit Medal can also be awarded to a civilian for exceptionally meritorious contributions to the work of the Defence Forces.