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Argentina Flag Day
Every Day Should Be A Holiday?
In Argentina, every day really is a holiday. Of sorts. But there are so many national holidays and assorted celebratory days here, that it’s not far from the truth. In Argentina, it seems, every dog has his day, or feriado. From conventional days like Love Day (Dia del Amor, 14th November) and National Tango Day (Dia Nacional del Tango, 11th December), to wild and wacky ones like Train Tracks day (Dia del Riel, 18th July) and Day of the Noodle Maker (Dia del Obrero Fideero, 22nd May), they’re all here.
Yes, it’s “National Flag of Argentina Day”
Argentine Pigeons are fiercely patriotic
Still, the streets are deadly quiet on the 20th June, as per most national holidays here. Everyone has the day off for Dia de la Bandera (National Flag Day, in Argentina), which always gets put on the third Monday of June, so that we can all enjoy a long weekend. Read on to learn a little more about the Argentine National Flag.
Manuel Belgrano, Creator of the National Flag of Argentina
Manuel Belgrano, born Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano, lived up to the grandiosity of his name. Born in Buenos Aires, Belgrano went on to be a successful lawyer, politician, economist. Belgrano was indeed a man of many talents, and national flag designing is just one of his many legacies.
His many accomplishments landed him a spot on the Argentine 10 peso note, an honor of great distinction.
Belgrano and the Dia de la Bandera de Argentina
Most importantly of all, Belgrano was a commander in the Argentine Wars of Independence, making himself a national hero in the process. It was during this time, in 1812, that Belgrano created the national flag of Argentina, for his troops to fight under.
Belgrano later died of dropsy on June 20th, 1820, which is why we celebrate the Dia de la Bandera here in Argentina on the anniversary of his death each year. Except of course, that the date is changed slightly to allow for a lazy long weekend. Manuel surely doesn’t mind.
Pablo at D for Disorientation also has a couple of great posts on Flag Day too, from the perspective of a Rosarino (Rosario being where Belgrano first hoisted his newly designed flag back in 1812).
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Written by Alan Seabright - Thanks for reading! 5 Comments »
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What? It was National FLAG Day? And here I thought everyone was honoring my June 18th birthday. 😉
Kidding, of course. Yes, the streets WERE deadly quiet, even more so than during the previous national holidays I’ve experienced here. This is not such a good thing on a birthday, though it did make riding the Subte an almost luxurious experience.
Anyway, thanks for the bit about Belgrano. Looking forward to your reports on lesser-known holidays!
Besos,
Maya
[Reply]
Hi Maya,
Happy belated birthday!
Yes, I will keep up the lesser-known holiday reports, especially for you 🙂 Although I think this one is fairly well known… especially in Rosario. Check out Pablo’s last two blog posts for more on that:
http://dfordisorientation.blogspot.com/
Take care,
Alan
[Reply]
Thanks for noticing, Alan! Just go to http://dfordisorientation.blogspot.com/search/label/flag%20day and it will show all the Flag Day-related posts. One of them contains an explanation of why this holiday is not particularly noticed in Buenos Aires. In Rosario, on the other hand, public employees and schools get an extra day off on June 20, so it’s like two holidays, one national and one local…
[Reply]
Hi Pablo,
No worries – your accounts of Flag Day are surely more informed than mine was 😉
I edited the post to add a link to your Flag day posts, so that people can get the view from Rosario 🙂
Saludos,
Alan
[Reply]
I love you Argentina ( Te Amo )
[Reply]