Karelia Brigade (; ) is one of the three

Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( , ) is the army, land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, Combat engineering, engineer ...

readiness brigades. It is currently based at

Valkeala Valkeala is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland, and is a neighborhood of city of Kouvola, and it was a part of the Kymenlaakso region. The municipality had a population of 11,238 (2003) and cove ...

. With some three thousand soldiers it is the second largest

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. It is the only Finnish brigade providing training in all Army branches and houses the Finnish Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal Centre of Excellence. As of 2023, its commander is brigadier general Jyri Raitasalo.

History

The present Karelia Brigade was founded on 1 January 1957 by renaming the 5th Brigade. The lineage of the brigade hails back to the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

13th Division, which formed the 8th Brigade during the

Interim Peace The Interim Peace (, ) was a short period in the history of Finland during the Second World War. The term is used for the time between the Winter War and the Continuation War, lasting a little over 15 months, from 13 March 1940 to 24 June 1941. ...

. During the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

, the brigade formed Infantry Regiment 8. Following the

Lapland War During World War II, the Lapland War (; ; ) saw fighting between Finland and Nazi Germany – effectively from September to November 1944 – in Finland's northernmost region, Lapland. Though the Finns and the Germans had been fighting together ...

, the regiment became a garrison unit in

Kouvola Kouvola () is a city in Finland and the administrative capital of Kymenlaakso. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country. The population of Kouvola is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland, and the 17th m ...

, where it was renamed the 5th Brigade in 1952.

Heraldry and traditions

The brigade keeps the traditions of the Regiment of the Karelian Guard (), which was formed in 1918 from three other regiments. The brigade anniversary is on 6 May, commemorating the 1618 order by

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus (9 December ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 19 December15946 November ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 16 November1632), also known in English as Gustav II Adolf or Gustav II Adolph, was King of Sweden from 1611 t ...

to found the Regiment of Karelia (). The flag of the brigade is the old flag of the Regiment of the Karelian Guard, designed by . It consists of the Finnish

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

in the middle of an open

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph, a wreath (attire), wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cher ...

. Each of the corners are decorated with the dueling arms from the

coat of arms of the Province of Karelia The coat of arms of Karelia in Finland were first used in 1562, although the arms were likely presented at the burial of Gustav Vasa in 1560. The arms were used for the Swedish province of Karelia {{Heraldry-stub}">; ) is an area in Norther ...

with crowns. The flag is carried on a pole with the Cross of Liberty as a

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

, and ribbons of the Cross of Liberty 4th Class. The ribbons are embroudered with names of locations where the original regiment saw combat during the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

. The brigade insignia consists of the dueling arms of the coat of arms of the Province of Karelia on a laurel wreath. As with the flag, the insignia belonged originally to the Regiment of the Karelian Guard, and was assigned to the brigade in 1967. Since 4 April 1978, the brigade cross has been the , designed by Pentti Vainikka. It is a cross of white and red, with a golden brigade insignia in the middle. The colors stem from those used by the officers of the Regiment of the Karelian Guard on their

shoulder mark A shoulder mark, also called a rank slide or slip-on, is a flat cloth sleeve worn on the shoulder strap of a uniform. It may bear rank or other insignia. A shoulder mark should not be confused with a (an elaborate shoulder strap), a (a brai ...

s. The brigade march is the old march of the 8th Viipuri Sharpshooter Battalion (). It was composed by Eduard Dupuy and arranged by Uuno Kuparinen.

Composition (Peace time)

* Kymi Jaeger Battalion (''Kymen Jääkäripataljoona'', KYMJPKarelia Brigade - For Conscripts
Retrieved 2020-03-01. (In Finnish)]) ** 1st Mechanized Jaeger Company (''1. Panssarijääkärikomppania'') ** 2nd Mechanized Jaeger Company (''2. Panssarijääkärikomppania'') ** 3rd Mechanized Jaeger Company (''3. Panssarijääkärikomppania'') * Karelia Artillery Regiment (''Karjalan Tykistörykmentti'', KARTR) ** 1st Field Artillery Battery (''1. Kenttätykistöpatteri'') ** 2nd Field Artillery Battery (''2. Kenttätykistöpatteri'') ** Mortar Company (''Kranaatinheitinkomppania'') * Salpausselkä Air Defense Battalion (''Salpausselän Ilmatorjuntapatteristo'', SALPITPSTO) ** 1st Air Defense Battery (''1. Ilmatorjuntapatteri'') ** 2nd Air Defense Battery (''2. Ilmatorjuntapatteri'') ** 3rd Air Defense Battery (''3. Ilmatorjuntapatteri'') * Kymi Engineer Battalion (''Kymen Pioneeripataljoona'', KYMPIONP) ** 1st Engineer Company (''1. Pioneerikomppania'') ** 2nd Engineer Company (''2. Pioneerikomppania'') ** EOD Company (''Raivaajakomppania'') * East Finland Signal Battalion (''Itä-Suomen Viestipataljoona'', I-SVP) ** HQ Company (''Esikuntakomppania'') ** 1st Signals Company (''1. Viestikomppania'') ** 2nd Signals Company (''2. Viestikomppania'') * Karelia Logistics Battalion (''Karjalan Huoltopataljoona'', KARHP)Karjalan Huoltopataljoona
Finnish Defence Forces. 2014-12-30. Retrieved 2015-08-06. ** 1st Supply Company (''1. Huoltokomppania'') ** 2nd Supply Company (''2. Huoltokomppania'') ** Materiel Centre (''Materiaalikeskus'') ** Maintenance Centre (''Kunnossapitokeskus'') ** Transportation Centre (''Kuljetuskeskus'') ** Driving School (''Autokoulu'')

References

External links

Puolustusvoimat: Karjalan Prikaati
(In Finnish) {{Finnish Defence Forces units Brigades of Finland Kouvola