Finnish Airforce and the swastika - Short lesson:
For those not "in the know" do not start shooting off your mouth about our squadron insignia before you know better. That is not the nazi swastika you see there, but a Von Rosen cross which was the insignia of the Finnish Air Force (FAF) from 1918 to 1945 - estabilished way before a certain Austrian corporal made a similar symbol infamous with his national socialistic ideology (ай-яй-яй, нехороший мальчик! - Г.) For that very reason the FAF was forced to change it's insignia to the current blue and white roundel (да, дальше со свастикой уже нельзя было оставаться. - Г.).
The common foreigner would have not believed it has nothing to do with the nazis anyway. But as you are now here, we can safely assume that you are either a current or potential WarBirds pilot. Which means you probably are educated enough in the history of aerial combat to indeed know better. In case you are not, here is a quick crash course on that certain aspect of FAF history:
It is called a Von Rosen cross because the first two airplanes, Thulin Parasols - licence-built copies of a Morane Saulnier design - that formed the FAF were donated by a Swedish count Erik Von Rosen shortly after Finland's independence from the chaos of Russian revolution. The cross was the traditional symbol of good luck for the Von Rosen family. They probably had picked it up from Indian Aryan mythology where the swastika is a symbol for the Sun and, incidentally, good luck (а то! Это же самое - про солнцеворот и древних ариев - и баркашовцы говорят; стало быть, они правы. Небось и вскидывание руки тоже означало что-то в древнерусском язычестве... - Г.)
We display the cross proudly (а как же! - Г.), aware of its true and lethal heritage, and furious at a crazy dictator who stole and dishonoured it (да ладно лаяться-то! На себя посмотрели бы... - Г.) Our Hornets would sure look more handsome with the Von Rosen crosses on their shiny plastic wings. Oh well, those were the days of iron planes and er... depleted uranium men.
Нет, все-таки то, что РСФСР отказалась от свастики с 1922 года (если не ошибаюсь), а финны только с 1945, когда им накостыляли, говорит о чем-то).
