Finland: Authorities’ badges and identity cards to reflect equality of national languages

NordenBladet — The badges and identity cards of the security authorities in the branches of government of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finance will be updated as of 1 January 2021. The new badges and cards of the police, the Border Guard, rescue authorities and Customs will reflect the equal treatment of the national languages guaranteed by the Constitution and the Language Act.

The badges and identity cards used by the security authorities in the branches of government of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finance were renewed in 2018 after new security features were added to the cards and a uniform appearance was selected for the design. According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s decision (EOAK/6446/2018), staff badges and identity cards introduced by the police, Customs, the Border Guard and rescue authorities in 2018 do not comply with the language obligations of the authorities. In the title field, the name of the authority and card in Swedish is in a much smaller font size than in Finnish.

The update now being carried out will address the identified shortcomings. The new badges and identity cards will be identical to the previous cards, with the exception of the text in the title field, which will be changed to the same size in three languages (Finnish, Swedish and English).

The Ministry of the Interior has instructed the authorities to start replacing the badges and identity cards immediately from the beginning of 2021. The transition period will last until the end of 2023. The Ministry of the Interior requires all security authorities to replace badges and identity cards, and to give priority to Swedish-speaking areas and persons in contact with customers.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi