Polar Taper Candle Finnish Independence Day

It is traditional for Finnish families to light two candles in each window of their home in the evening of Finnish Independence Day 6th of December.

This custom dates to the 1920s; but even earlier, candles had been placed in Finnish windows on poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg’s birthday as a silent protest against Russian oppression. A popular legend has it that two candles were used as a sign to inform young Finnish men on their way to Sweden and Germany to become jägers that the house was ready to offer shelter and keep them hidden from the Russians.

These tapered candles have approximate burn time of 8 hours to carry over the whole evening.