Jonas Borg/Royal Court, Sweden
The flags have been raised, the palace doors have been thrown open and the royal family of Sweden have joined celebrations across the country to mark National Day.
June 6th is filled with traditions that put the Swedish royals at the heart of national life but many of them are relatively modern creations. However, the focus of the 2023 National Day is a reminder that this celebration is all about history and the shaping of a nation and a national identity across centuries.
National Day in Sweden is held on June 6th to mark the moment that’s seen as the beginning of the modern country. On that date, in 1523, Gustav Vasa was elected as King of Sweden. His rise to the top cemented the end of the Kalmar Union which had joined together the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark and Sweden for over a century. A year later, Swedish independence was acknowledged by the King of Denmark. It was a seismic moment in Swedish history.
However, it wasn’t until the 20th century that it became a formal event. In the 1890s, a man called Artur Hazelius began to push for a date of celebration, set in the calendar, that would bring everyone in Sweden together to mark their history and their culture. He had set up the Skansen Open-Air museum which was established to showcase the different ways of life around Sweden, taking in everything from architecture to cultural traditions. The aim was to preserve a world that many feared was disappearing forever through the changes brought by industrialisation. And the date that he settled on as ideal for a celebration of all things Swedish was June 6th.
The significance of the date had resounded earlier in the 19th century when the Swedish parliament adopted the Instrument of Government that became the country’s constitution on June 6th 1809. Although Artur Hazelius died in 1902, his idea lived on and in 1916, a Swedish Flag Day was celebrated in Stockholm on June 6th. It stuck firm as a tradition.
However, as the 20th century wore on, and a new constitution took hold in the early months of the reign of King Carl XVI Gustaf, Flag Day took on a brand new significance. From 1983 onwards it was known as National Day while in 2005, it was made into a public holiday, replacing Whit Sunday.
The change meant that celebrations could really take hold. National Day was now, officially, a day off from work. Parties and community celebrations continued to grow and at the heart of all this was the Royal Family.
National Day in Sweden always sees the doors of the Royal Palace in Stockholm thrown open with people allowed to visit for free. A member of the royals does the honours (in 2023, it’s his heir, Crown Princess Victoria, along with her husband and children) while the King and his family gather for a celebration at the Skansen open air museum, founded by Artur Hazelius.
The day is filled with national costume, traditional parties and lots of flags. It is also close to another important date in Sweden – Midsummer.
National Day in 2023 takes on a special significance. As well as marking 500 years since the election of King Gustav Vasa, it is also part of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the reign of King Carl XVI Gustaf. Although the Jubilee date is actually on September 15th, when he will mark a whole half century since his accession, the royal party is already under way and will be a big part of National Day.
And it will form another chapter in the history of a date that has helped shape modern Sweden.