Pikk Hermann tower open to public to mark National Flag Day
Sunday is National Flag Day in Estonia, which will be marked with a ceremony at Pikk Hermann tower in Tallinn early in the morning. Pikk Hermann is open to the public on Sunday also.
Sunday, June 4 is the 139th anniversary of the adoption and consecration of Estonia's blue-black-white national flag , marked early in the morning with a flag-raising ceremony Governor's Garden on Toompea, starting 7 a.m.
The first Estonian flag was produced in spring 1884 by the Estonian Students' Society, and was blessed and consecrated in Otepää on June 4 of the same year.
The National Flag Day is thus marked on June 4 each year.
Ahead of National Flag Day, on Sunday, June 4, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., Pikk Hermann tower is open to the public.
Sunday morning's ceremony will see the flag hoisted by schools students and cultural society members, accompanied by the national anthem and other patriotic hymns, to be performed by the Estonian Military Orchestra and the choirs of the Estonian Female Song Society.
Flag guards from all four branches of the volunteer Defense Leauge (Kaitseliit) – the men's branch to be joined by Nasikodukaitse (women's), Kodu Tütred (girls) and Noored Kotkad (boys), as well as by local Scouts and Guides associations, schools and academic and patriotic organizations.
Riigikogu speaker Lauri Hussar and Chairman of the Estonian Flag Association Jüri Trei will make speeches at the ceremony.
Archbishop of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church Urmas Viilma will give the blessing.
Pikk Hermann ("Tall Herman"), a distinctive tower sited on the southwestern corner of Toompea Castle, is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 4, and members of the public can join any tour, which starts at half hourly intervals – visitors will be given free entry, with a ticket indicating which tour they are booked in on, to ensure a smooth process and to avoid overcrowding.
Flag days in Estonia require all state, local government and public buildings to fly the flag if they do not already, while many private citizens also choose to hoist the blue-black-white from the front of their houses and in their yards.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
Source: Riigikogu