National Days in Nation Building: Similarities and Differences

Abstract

National days constitute a comparatively younger stratum of the nation. Whereas flags have been used to signal the presence of states and nations among other states and nations for some time, the nature of the national day is different as the in-group constitutes the focus for its celebrations, although ‘others’ and ‘enemies’ are much part of celebratory origins and establishment. National days enact institutionalized notions of sameness and oneness and contribute to making nations visible and are in this capacity intimately linked with nationalism. As part of official historical narratives appropriated by national elites, national days are usually officially recognized events that celebrate founding myths. As such they are socio-political in content and although they can appear as consensual they are often outcomes of long periods of struggle and conflict between various elites or between elites and peoples. In fact, little remains uncontroversial about national celebrations and commemorations and their (ongoing) formations, despite honouring events of an often distant past. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown learned this the hard way after he forgot to bow placing the wreath at the Cenotaph in honour of the fallen soldiers on Remembrance Sunday in London in 2009. In the following two chapters we trace the development of national days, their established patterns and their contributions to nation building.