The only real reason we celebrate the national day is that most other nations do the same. A more obvious case of cultural imitation is difficult to imagine: we have learned from the outside world that we should be proud of our nation, and therefore Parliament has decided that we should have a national holiday. Then we celebrate.
In other countries it is easier. Here is the National Day celebrations linked to historical trauma and epochal events that still relate to in a nonthreatening way. Norway got its constitution 17 May 1814, after several centuries have been under Danish kings, and the national importance of independence was further strengthened during and after the dissolution of the union in 1905 and World War II German occupation. There's no getting away from the fact that the events in Eidsvoll on May 17 really meant a lot to Norway.
The same applies to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia July 4, 1776, if we turn our attention to the emergence of the U.S. as a nation, or the storming of the Bastille July 14, 1789 in French history. For most young nations, which were created as a result of decolonization in the postwar period, is the National Day in memory of the state in general have formed.
But that is not the case in Sweden. Many Swedes have no idea why the National Day celebrations. It is not uncommon to 6 June celebrations openly challenged by the argument that we should instead celebrate the Midsummer Day, the most Swedish of all weekends. When self proclaimed experts to specify reasons for celebration usually also quite different answers emerge. A frequent is that Gustav Vasa shall have been elected king in Straengnaes June 6 year 1523. Another explanation is that it depends on events years in 1809. On June 6 this year received, many claim, Sweden introduced a new form of government. The Gustavian absolute monarchy was abolished and we had a system of government based on Montesquieu's idea of separation of powers between the king and elected assembly. It was certainly not democracy, but it was the beginning of progress towards democracy.
The truth is that both events which are secondary in relation to the designation of 6 June as anniversaries. If any person shall be held liable, it neither Gustav Vasa or 1809 men, but rather Artur Hazelius, who had already begun to organize flag celebrations at Skansen June 6 when someone figured out that the day in question was celebrated in remembrance of the 1809 and 1523. Incidentally, these two historical events unimportant, seen to date context. In the 1500s we had the Julian calendar, which means that Gustav Vasa in fact, was elected king about ten days later. It happened June 6, 1809 was only the Duke Charles (the future Charles XIII) signed the new constitution, which was a prerequisite for him to take over as king. The Constitution came into force only the four estates in parliament had approved it, and it took another twenty days before the hard-pressed peasantry gave in and accepted the new arrangement.
In a funny tale had the celebration on June 6 with the weather to do. Hazelius flag celebrations had two main purposes: first, he wanted paying visitors to the newly founded Skansen, and he wanted to get to Stockholm residents how the Swedish flag (which until the mid-1800s had been a naval affair, nothing for people on land) looked . Flag festivals were organized in several days, both summer and winter, for example, of 6 November (Gustavus Adolphus' death) and 30 November (Karl XII's death). For obvious reasons, was Stockholm residents will go to Skansen and celebrating outdoors higher in June than in November.
According to the tale teaches Hazelius having evaluated a particularly rainy June and concluded that there was enough of a flag party the following year. The choice of 6 June must have been because it had rained that day at least, that most locals had turned up at the time.
I do not know if the tale is true, but it could very well be it. The main reason for that June was chosen month was in any case the climate. Summer Weekends are better viewed from outdoor view, than the winter holidays. In this way was created in the last century it came to be termed as Swedish Flag Day. Before World War I, this was a typical Stockholm Affair. Under pressure from the Great War on the continent and the need for a national consensus around common symbols transformed however Swedish Flag Day in the 1910s to a big party at the Stadium, with stately setting the flag distribution to associations.
Since things have moved fast. When a tradition has been given impetus to create the easy routines and begin to legitimize their existence. Important reforms have been nailed by parliament precisely on 6 June. (Then it's another thing to all the boys in my childhood street knew that Bjorn Borg was born June 6, 1956 and therefore linked to this celebration.) 1983, Swedish Flag Day status as National Day, 1996 salutdag and 2005 as public holiday.
It's easy to mock the Swedish National Day celebrations and see it as the result of an inferiority complex against the Norwegians, but if we open our eyes to the whole Swedish nation project, it becomes obvious that most of what we define as Swedish is fairly recent phenomena. Our red houses have been around for more than a century, but not much more. Before the spread of Falun red paint cabins were gray. The Swedish folk costume is a contemporary phenomenon, and many local folk costumes have only a few centuries old. The Swedish biscuits occurred during the first half of the 1900s, when the combination of cheap sugar and housewives did that even working class could afford and opportunity to bake and eat them. Husman diet is a result of industrialization - hefty meals for men who came home from heavy work. The Christmas tree is a German import tradition that trickled into the country in the 1700 - and 1800's. And so on.
What we celebrate today, our Swedish identity and Sweden, is thus in essence a creation that we and our immediate ancestors have built themselves, as we have constructed of bricks from around the world - of old Swedish midsummer, the smaller Asian Santa Claus, of South African geraniums, of American ducks in a sailor suit, of food from around the globe. The building never ends. Now, more than ever in history, enjoying the individual in Sweden freedom to receive and be able to define their culture.
On June 6, becomes what we do the day - and precisely this freedom is actually a strong sign of health. This in itself is worth celebrating and rejoicing over, and it makes me happy to go out in the garden and hoist the flag. It was, after all, much worse before.
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