President Tarja Halonen on Sunday awarded medals to 37 mothers for their achievements in raising children. Each was presented with the Order of the White Rose of Finland with golden cross.
At homes all over the country mothers were honoured in a variety of less ceremonial ways, with handmade cards, bouquets of the spring's first wildflowers or breakfast in bed.
Mothers' Day has been observed in Finland on the second Sunday of May since 1927.