When is your country's national holiday?

[xyz]

Today August 1st is Switzerland's. - How about finding out about yours? And perhaps a short (or long!) historical explanation or a link to it.
Never hurts to learn a bit more about other parts of the world.

Good day!
History (http://history-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch/old-swiss-confederacy-1291.html)

[lisati]

Here in New Zealand we have Waitangi Day on February 6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitangi_Day, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Waitangi

[xpod]

I do miss home:(

http://www.heritage-of-scotland.com/history.htm

The Romans actually built a wall to keep us lot out,heavan knows why...:)

Anyway...

Holidays Which Occur August 1:
Benin/Dahomey Independence Day (1960)
Botswana August Holiday
China PR Army Day
Dominica Queen's Birthday
Ghana Homowo
Guyana Commonwealth Day
Iran 12th Imam's Birthday
Nicaragua Fiesta Day
Scotland Lammas Day, term day
Switzerland Anniv of Founding of Swiss Confederation (1291)
Trinidad & Tobago, St Lucia Emancipation Day/Caribbean Day
US Sports Day-good sportsmanship
World Breast Feeding Day (UNICEF/WHO)
Zaire Parents Day

From
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/today/0801.htm

[xaco1234]

17th of may in norway

[happy-and-lost]

We don't have a "Great Britain Day". There was talk of introducing one not so long ago, but I think the idea was put down completely by claims that it would alienate people from other nations living in Britain, which is silly, as if you live here, you're British first and foremost :)

[xpod]

I thought at first this was just an August first thing....doh:)


We don't have a "Great Britain Day". There was talk of introducing one not so long ago, but I think the idea was put down completely by claims that it would alienate people from other nations living in Britain, which is silly, as if you live here, you're British first and foremost

Erm.....i think that most Scots,Wesh & Irish would most probably disagree with you there.
In fact,living In the heart of London i think i`m more Scottish than ever:wink:

St Andrews day for the jocks
St Georges day for the sassenacs
St David day for the boys from the valleys
St Patrick day for our irish cousins

[ynnhoj]

july 1st is canada day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Day).

[moshy]

Australia Day 26 January, celebrated with the Triple J Hottest 100 (http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100/)

[shafin]

Here in Bangladesh,21st February is Language Martyr's Day (International Mother Language Day)
26th March is Independence day
16th December is Victory Day.


there are a total of 11 National Holidays,For a complete list,visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Bangladesh

[Tmi]

I actually had to check Wikipedia to see when my national holiday was.
Sweden has the 6th of june.

Swedes are quite restrictive when it comes to celebrating the national holiday. "National pride" is rediciously enough a bit of a tabu here.

Anyways, the history about it is that on the 6th of june 1523 Gustav Vasa became king of Sweden and thus ending the Kalmar Union which was a Union between Sweden, Norway and Denmark. In the union the countries were relatively sovereign, but with one common monark.
Apparently (I'm not good at history :)) we Swedes didn't like them evil danes who had to much influence over us. We thus made Vasa our king and broke out of the union, again becoming a sovereign country.

The national day became a holiday in 2005. Before that it was a normal weekday. As said before, national pride has not been a very big thing here.

[Redache]

We don't have a "Great Britain Day". There was talk of introducing one not so long ago, but I think the idea was put down completely by claims that it would alienate people from other nations living in Britain, which is silly, as if you live here, you're British first and foremost

I am Welsh Citizen First and an European Union Citizen Second. I never count myself as British as I am Welsh.

[AlexenderReez]

i'm malaysian...31/8/ is my country national day :KS:KS:KS

[mips]

We have seven:

http://africanhistory.about.com/library/bl/blsaholidays.htm

21 March: Human Rights Day
On this day in 1960 the police killed 69 people at Sharpeville who were participating in a protest against the pass laws. Many were shot in the back. The carnage made world headlines. Four days later the government banned black political organisations, many leaders were arrested or went into exile. During the Apartheid era there were human rights abuses by all sides; Human Rights Day is but one step to ensure that the people of South Africa are aware of their human rights and to ensure that such abuses never again occur.

27 April: Freedom Day
This was the day in 1994 when the first democratic election was held in South Africa, ie an election when all adults could vote irrespective of their race, and the day in 1997 when the new constitution took effect.

1 May: Worker's Day
Many countries around the world commemorate the contribution made by workers to society on May Day (America doesn't celebrate this holiday because of its communist origins). It has traditionally been a day to protest for better wages and working conditions. Given the role that trade unions played in the fight for freedom, it is unsurprising that South Africa commemorates this day.

16 June: Youth Day
In June 1976 students in Soweto rioted in protest against the introduction of Afrikaans as the language of instruction of half their school curriculum, sparking eight months of violent uprisings across the country. Youth Day is a national holiday in honour of all the young people who lost their lives in the struggle against Apartheid and Bantu Education.

9 August: National Women's Day
On this day in 1956 some 20,000 women marched to the Union [government] Buildings in Pretoria to protest against a law requiring black women to carry passes. This day is celebrated as a reminder of the contribution made by women to society, the achievements that have been made for women's rights, and to acknowledge the difficulties and prejudices many women still face.

24 September: Heritage Day
Nelson Mandela coined the phrase "rainbow nation" to describe South Africa's diverse cultures, customs, traditions, histories, and languages. This day is a celebration of that diversity.

16 December: Day of Reconciliation
Afrikaners traditionally celebrated 16 December as the Day of the Vow, remembering the day in 1838 when a group of Voortrekkers defeated a Zulu army at the Battle of Blood River, while ANC activists commemorated it as the day in 1961 when the ANC started to arm its soldiers to overthrow Apartheid. In the new South Africa's it's a day of reconciliation, a day to focus on overcoming the conflicts of the past and building a new nation.

[%hMa@?b<C]

July 4th - USA - Independence Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_%28United_States%29

[Tux Aubrey]

Just to be pedantic, January 26 celebrates the first unloading of transported convicts on Australian shores (Not, at least not officially the TripleJ Top 100 - although on second thoughts, that's probably a better reason to celebrate). We also celebrate "Gee, its good not to be English Day", along with our Scottish and Welsh and Irish cousins, anytime we feel like it.:)

[DoctorMO]

I am Welsh Citizen First and an European Union Citizen Second. I never count myself as British as I am Welsh.

You must not have heard of geography, I'll try and make this simple:

England + Wales = Britain
Britain + Scotland = Great Britain
Great Britain + Northern Ireland = The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

While the UK is a country, Britain and Great Britain are just geographical groupings at the moment. you may not feel "British" but I think you mean "I don't feel English" because Britain is more than just England.

As for St Georges day... don't make me laugh, if England or any of the regions mentioned above could ever agree or decide to celebrate anything with a national holiday it would have to be the 27th August, although I'd prefer to make it November 5th, at least we do the fireworks... although we're pretty much celebrating a failed plot against the country.

If that doesn't suit for fancy we could go for the day the french bar-stuard came over and set himself up as king with little consent of the natives (to paraphrase Tom Paine) or how about the exciting day we united under the german kings?

[xpod]

As for St Georges day... don't make me laugh, if England or any of the regions mentioned above could ever agree or decide to celebrate anything with a national holiday it would have to be the 27th August, although I'd prefer to make it November 5th, at least we do the fireworks... although we're pretty much celebrating a failed plot against the country.

We`ve never been able to agree amonst ourselves back home north of the border never mind with anyone else:)

Heres a good Scottish day....seeing as i noticed someone mention something about "Declarations"
http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/scotland/arbroath.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Arbroath

Being born in Arbroath as i was it seems only appropriate i mention it eh.:)

EDIT:I`m sure certain Irish factions would love August 27th btw

[Turboaaa2001]

July 4th - USA - Independence Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_%28United_States%29

I disagree, I would say that our national holiday is Christmas. People have a lot more fun and celebrate more. Besides, people don't know what they are celebrating on the 4th. They just know to celebrate.

I personally hate Christmas simply because it brings out the worst in people.

Of course this is all my opinion.

[jseiser]

Our holidays make me feel like nazis, everything red white blue and on and on. Its imaginary lines, and colors :(

[Depressed Man]

I disagree, I would say that our national holiday is Christmas. People have a lot more fun and celebrate more. Besides, people don't know what they are celebrating on the 4th. They just know to celebrate.

I personally hate Christmas simply because it brings out the worst in people.

Of course this is all my opinion.

Most holidays are commercialized now anyway. Heck even birthdays (our own personal holidays).

[juxtaposed]

When is your country's national holiday?

April 20th is pretty much a de facto national holiday, but july 1st is canada day :P

[DoctorMO]

People have a lot more fun and celebrate more. Besides, people don't know what they are celebrating on the 4th. They just know to celebrate.

Pointing out that I wouldn't be celebrating July 4th took some explaining, you would have thought Boston of all places would know what the hell July 4th was for; I just didn't feel like celebrating my countries defeat ;-)

[Turboaaa2001]

I have to say that celebration of ones own nation these days is kinda moot.

I believe that the smarter people of the world feel they are more independent of any nation and that the one they live in is just that.

If I have any patriotism it's with the internet. Expecially since the internet was given it's own country code around the year 2000 for VOIP purposes. I feel more a like and closer to all you swedes, british, germans, etc from around the world here in this forum than I do in my own country!

The internet is a bigger "mixing pot" than the US and it doesn't have the politics (except for IP and ISP stuff).

Hey! That brings up a good point. We should create the Internet national holiday! :)

[bread eyes]

Most holidays are commercialized now anyway. Heck even birthdays (our own personal holidays).

Is that a bad thing?

[Pazin~]

September 7 ~ Brasil :)

[Kosimo]

Here in Catalonia our National Day is September 11.

It was the day that our capital (Barcelona) fall against Spanish troups...
Since then, (1714) we are just a spanish region and under they rule...

But as a still alive nation, we celebrate our major defeat in our history as a national day to say we're still alive being what we are... Catalans.

[rkrug]

July 4th- Independence Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_%28United_States%29

The day that we declared independence from Great Britain.

Mostly we just have barbecues, parades, and blow stuff up with fireworks.

[Kosimo]

July 4th- Independence Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_%28United_States%29

The day that we declared independence from Great Britain.

Mostly we just have barbecues, parades, and blow stuff up with fireworks.

I'm sure you'll do some other things as well ;)

[uibesteven]

October 1st, national day in China, PR. Liberation of the Chinese people, I think.

[iladw]

That would be the 3 of March - national holiday of Bulgaria.

The whole thing is that we liberated ourselves from the oppression of the Turks. And it's something that most Bulgarians are happy about because we had like 5 centuries of these guys messing around with a European country whereas they should have stayed in the middle east or something.

Except experiencing pride and joy we (or the majority, at least):
Go to (or watch it on the tely) the "showing of" of the army and some fireworks fanciness.
Eat a lot, drink a lot, lay around and do dump s****
More or less it's like on New Year's eve but we all realize how lucky we were that there were some guys that weren't afraid to die for freedom.

BTW I kinda like such topics because they show the Ubuntu users as a community and not some M$ haters and geeks.

[Kosimo]

Any other national day? I think this topic is really interesting

[xpod]

England + Wales = Britain
Britain + Scotland = Great Britain
Great Britain + Northern Ireland = The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.


Notice how one has to add Scotland to make it "Great":lolflag:

[bonzodog]

For us, it's March 17th, St Patricks Day. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Patricks_Day)

[aks44]

Here in France it's July 14th: the revolution, the storming of the Bastille (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storming_of_the_Bastille), all that stuff...

[Tux Aubrey]

Hey! That brings up a good point. We should create the Internet national holiday!

September 19 is International Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day. We could combine them as a fitting tribute. Arhhhh!

And I too enjoy hearing about national days - especially those that actually mean something to people.

And yay for Catalonia! How many other nations still exist inside today's acknowledged countries and still maintain their national identities and celebrations? (The Scots, Welsh, Catalonians, Quebequois - plus the indigenous nations within N. America, Australia and China all come to mind. There must be many in Africa too, given the arbitrary way colonial borders were determined.)

[Johnsie]

11th and 12th July - Northern Ireland

[HermanAB]

"11 and 12 July"

I take it the first one is for celebrations and the second one for nursing the hang-over?

[Quillz]

Here in the US we have Independence Day on July 4.

[Kosimo]

September 19 is International Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day. We could combine them as a fitting tribute. Arhhhh!

And I too enjoy hearing about national days - especially those that actually mean something to people.

And yay for Catalonia! How many other nations still exist inside today's acknowledged countries and still maintain their national identities and celebrations? (The Scots, Welsh, Catalonians, Quebequois - plus the indigenous nations within N. America, Australia and China all come to mind. There must be many in Africa too, given the arbitrary way colonial borders were determined.)

Too much my friend.. Too much nations oppressed nowadays...
By the way, we're not Catalonians, but Catalans :P

C ya from the other side of the world! (I've been in australia just three months ago :P)

[Kosimo]

up!

[ghost11]

Latvia
Independence from Russia and Germany
- Declared November 18, 1918
- Recognized January 26, 1921
- Proclaimed2 May 4, 1990
- Completed September 6, 1991

[jgrabham]

We should have it on the day we get out of the EU!!! : D

[gaspar]

September 7 ~ Brasil :)

yep... our "independency day"....

[Kosimo]

any more? :popcorn: