Swedish Royal Family Celebrates National Day
Today the Swedish royals attended multiple events in connection to National Day and Flag Day.
Today, June 6th, is Sweden's National Day! While June 6th has always marked an important day in the Swedish history books, it wasn’t always because of National Day. In retrospect, National Day is actually relatively recently created holiday for Sweden. Way back in 1523 Gustav Vasa was elected King on June 6th which laid the ground work for Sweden to become an independent state. On 6 June 1809 Sweden adopted a new constitution. It wasn’t until 1916 when the day was given the title of “Flag Day”, as it marked when Sweden had acquired its own flag after its separation from the Kingdom of Norway. In 1893 the day was renamed (and celebrated as) National Day but it didn’t become a formal public holiday until 2004.
The day began with the King and Queen in Olofström, in Blekinge, which celebrates 50 years as a municipality this year. They visited the Volvo Cars factory and learned about they provide jobs for more than 2,500 people. They then visited Holje park where the King handed over banners to local associations and organizations, as is traditionally done on National Day.
The Crown Princess, Prince Daniel, Princess Estelle, and Prince Oscar began the day by opening the Royal Castle in Stockholm. On National Day the castle is open with free admission and two areas which are normally closed to the public were opened, the Bernadotte Library and Logården (Royal Palace Garden).
Prince Carl Philip attended the high guard change with the mounted high guard out of the Life Guards, where the Life Guards' Dragon Music Corps also performed a music program.
In the evening, the Royal Family went on a procession from the Royal Palace to Skansen. There the King handed out banners and flags to associations and organizations. Then the King gave a speech in which he said:
“Our Swedish flag, the blue-yellow cross flag. It is the sign of Sweden, the symbol of our common home. You might think it’s old-fashioned to hoist a flag. And that may be true. But what the flag stands for is highly topical: our democracy. Our self-determination. The freedom to shape our own future.”
The day finished with the Royal Couple inviting representatives of the Parliament, the government, and parts of the diplomatic corps for a reception at The Royal Palace. The National Day ended with a tapto by the Army's music corps at Logården.
All of the female members of the Swedish Royal Family wore traditional Stockholm national dress for the holiday.
