in 1925 postcard for Mother's Day 1916. In most countries, Mother's Day is an observance derived from the holiday as it has evolved in the
United States, promoted by companies who saw benefit in making it popular. As adopted by other countries and cultures, the holiday has different meanings, is associated with different events (religious, historical or legendary), and is celebrated on different dates. In some cases, countries already had existing celebrations honoring motherhood, and their celebrations then adopted several external characteristics from the US holiday, such as giving carnations and other presents to one's mother. The extent of the celebrations varies greatly. In some countries, it is potentially offensive to one's mother not to mark Mother's Day. In others, it is a little-known festival celebrated mainly by immigrants, or covered by the media as a taste of foreign culture.
Religion In certain traditional branches of
Christianity, the holiday is strongly associated with revering the
Virgin Mary. In some Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican homes, families have a special shrine on their
home altar devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In many Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, a special prayer service is held in honor of the
Theotokos Virgin Mary. In
Islam, special attention is paid to mothers.
The Prophet Muhammad said in this regard: ″The Paradise is beneath mother's feet″ Also there is no concept of Mother's Day in
Islam, but the
Quran teaches that children should give priority to loving their mother over their father.
Quran the holy book of
Muslims has mentioned the status and respect of
Mother in many verses: Surah
Al-Isra, verse 23,
Al-Ahqaf, verse 15,
Luqman, verse 14 and
Al-Baqarah, verse 233, is one of them. In
Hindu tradition, Mother's Day is called "
Mata Tirtha Aunshi" or "Mother Pilgrimage fortnight", and is celebrated in countries with a Hindu population, especially in Nepal, where mothers are honored with special foods. The holiday is observed on the new moon day in the month of
Baisakh, i.e., April/May. This celebration is based on the Hindu religion and it pre-dates the creation of the US-inspired celebration by at least a few centuries. In
Buddhism, the festival of
Ullambana is derived from the story of
Maudgalyayana and his mother.
By country Albania In Albania, as in a number of Balkan and Eastern European countries, Mother's Day is celebrated on 8 March, in conjunction with
International Women's Day.
Arab world Mother's Day in most Arab countries is celebrated on 21 March. It was introduced in Egypt by journalist
Mustafa Amin and was first celebrated in 1956. The practice has since been adopted by other Arab countries.
Argentina is the only country in the world that celebrates Mother's Day on this date.
Armenia In
Armenia, Mother's Day is celebrated on 8 March, and on 7 April as
Maternity and Beauty Day.
Australia In Australia, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. Australia celebrated Mother’s Day for the first time in 1910 with special church services, however, it was not popularly observed until the 1920s. Because it is autumn in Australia for Mother’s Day, and carnations are a spring flower, white chrysanthemums are the traditional Mother’s Day flower in Australia.
Bangladesh There is no historical tradition of celebrating Mother's Day () in Bangladesh, and it has become popular in the country due to western influences. It is celebrated on the second Sunday of May and is not a
public holiday. Mother's Day was not very popular and in recent times it has been spread more widely by the
Millennial and
Generation Z communities across the country through
social media. Although many religious families do not celebrate it, it is more widespread than ever before. There is a popular phrase used by many parents, including mothers, which is "Every day is Father's/Mother's Day so you will love your parents every day." Most people just wish or pray for their mother, but many from
big cities like
Dhaka,
Chittagong,
Khulna,
Sylhet,
Barishal,
Narayangonj,
Bogura etc. go to restaurants to celebrate, many also cut cakes. Many others cut cakes at home or
order meals online. Some children may give small gifts to their mothers.
Belarus Belarus celebrates Mother's Day on 14 October. Like other ex-Communist republics, Belarus used to celebrate only International Women's Day on 8 March. Mother's Day in Belarus was officially established by the Belarusian government, and it was celebrated for the first time in 1996. The celebration of the Virgin Mary (the holiday of Protection of the Holy Mother of God) is celebrated on the same day.
Bhutan Mother's Day in
Bhutan is celebrated on 8 May. It was introduced in Bhutan by the Tourism Council of Bhutan.
Belgium In
Belgium, Mother's Day (
Moederdag or
Moederkesdag in
Dutch and
Fête des Mères in
French) is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. In the week before this holiday children make little presents at primary school, which they give to their mothers in the early morning of Mother's Day. Typically, the father will buy
croissants and other sweet breads and pastries and bring these to the mother while she is still in bed – the beginning of a day of pampering for the mother. There are also many people who celebrate Mother's Day on 15 August instead; these are mostly people around
Antwerp, who consider that day (
Assumption) the classical Mother's Day and the observance in May an invention for commercial reasons. It was originally established on that day as the result of a campaign by
Frans Van Kuyck, a painter and Alderman from Antwerp.
Bolivia In
Bolivia, Mother's Day is celebrated on 27 May. El
Día de la Madre Boliviana was passed into law on 8 November 1927, during the presidency of
Hernando Siles Reyes. The date commemorates the
Battle of La Coronilla, which took place on 27 May 1812, during the
Bolivian War of Independence, in what is now the city of
Cochabamba. In this battle, women fighting for the country's independence were slaughtered by the Spanish army. It is not a public holiday, but all schools hold activities and festivities throughout the day.
Brazil In
Brazil, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. The first Mother's Day in Brazil was promoted by Associação Cristã de Moços de
Porto Alegre (
Young Men's Christian Association of Porto Alegre) on 12 May 1918. In 1932, then President
Getúlio Vargas made the second Sunday of May the official date for Mother's Day. In 1947, Archbishop
Jaime de Barros Câmara, Cardinal-Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, decided that this holiday would also be included in the official calendar of the Catholic Church. Mother's Day is not an official holiday (see
Public holidays in Brazil), but it is widely observed and typically involves spending time with and giving gifts to one's mother. Because of this, it is considered one of the celebrations most related to
consumerism in the country, second only to
Christmas Day as the most commercially lucrative holiday.
Canada :
See also Other observances in Canada Mother's Day in Canada is celebrated on the second Sunday in May (it is not a public holiday or bank holiday), and typically involves small celebrations and gift-giving to one's mother, grandmother, or other important female figures in one's family. Celebratory practices are very similar to those of other western nations. A Québécois tradition is for Québécois men to offer roses or other flowers to the women.
China Mother's Day is becoming more popular in
China. Carnations are a very popular Mother's Day gift and the most sold flowers in relation to the day. In the
People's Daily, the Chinese government's official newspaper, an article explained that "despite originating in the United States, people in China accept the holiday without hesitation because it is in line with the country's traditional ethics – respect for the elderly and filial piety towards parents." Li and the Society want to replace the Western-style gift of carnations with
lilies, which, in ancient times, were planted by Chinese mothers when children left home.
Costa Rica In
Costa Rica, Mother's Day is celebrated on 15 August. In 1927, at the Nicolás Ulloa School in Heredia, Evangelina Solís founded an annual event that would celebrate the mothers of the students. It was held around the time of the distribution of midterm notes, in July. Evangelina's reasoning was that mothers should be congratulated for their children's successes. The event gained national traction and was enacted into law in 1932. The final date of 15 August was chosen as it coincided with the celebration of
Assumption of Mary, mother of Jesus.
Czech Republic In the
Czech Republic, Mother's Day is celebrated every second Sunday in May. It started in former Czechoslovakia in 1923. When Mustafa Amin was arrested and imprisoned, the government changed the name of the holiday from "Mother's Day" to "Family Day", but they reverted the name after Egyptian mothers wrote to complain. Celebrations continued to be held on the same date and classic songs celebrating mothers remain famous to this day.
Ethiopia Mother's Day is celebrated for three days in
Ethiopia, after the end of the rainy season. It comes in mid-fall where people enjoy a three-day feast called "Antrosht". For the feast, ingredients will be brought by the children for a traditional hash recipe. The ingredients are divided along genders, with girls bringing spices, vegetables, cheese and butter, while the boys bring a lamb or bull. The mother hands out the hash to the family. A celebration takes place after the meal. The mothers and daughters anoint themselves using butter on their faces and chests. While honoring their family and heroes, men sing songs.
Estonia In
Estonia, Mother's Day (
emadepäev in
Estonian) is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. It is recognized nationally, but is not a public holiday.
Finland In
Finland, Mother's Day (
äitienpäivä in
Finnish) is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. It is recognized nationally and is a public holiday. It is usually celebrated at homes where children or grandchildren bring Mother's day cards that they have drawn to their mothers and grandmothers. Usually, some food, coffee and cakes are served for guests. Grown up children visit their parents' homes and bring traditionally Mother's day roses or other flowers accompanied by a Mother's day card. The president of Finland honors with medals every year some mothers who have done something exceptional and positive during the year.
France In
France, amidst alarm at the low birth rate, there were attempts in 1896 and 1904 to create a national celebration honoring the mothers of large families. In 1906 ten mothers who had nine children each were given an award recognising "High Maternal Merit" ("Haut mérite maternel"). American World War I soldiers fighting in France popularized the US Mother's Day holiday created by Anna Jarvis. They sent so much mail back to their country for Mother's Day that the
Union Franco-Américaine created a postal card for that purpose. Since then the French government awards the
Médaille de l'enfance et des familles to mothers of large families. In 1941, by an initiative of
Philippe Pétain, the wartime
Vichy government used the celebration in support of their policy to encourage larger families, but all mothers were now honored, even mothers with smaller families. During the 1950s, the celebration lost all its patriotic and natalist ideologies, and became heavily commercialized.
Germany Germany celebrates Mother's Day on the 2nd Sunday in May. In the 1920s, Germany had the lowest birthrate in Europe, and the declining trend was continuing. This was attributed to women's participation in the labor market. At the same time, influential groups in society (politicians of left and right, churchwomen, and feminists) believed that mothers should be honored but could not agree on how to do so. However, all groups strongly agreed on the promotion of the values of motherhood. In 1923, this resulted in the unanimous adoption of
Muttertag, the Mother's Day holiday as imported from America. The head of the Association of German Florists cited "the inner conflict of our
Volk and the loosening of the family" as his reason for introducing the holiday. He expected that the holiday would unite the divided country. In 1925, the Mother's Day Committee joined the task force for the recovery of the
volk, and the holiday stopped depending on commercial interests and began emphasizing the need to increase the population in Germany by promoting motherhood. In 1938, the government began issuing an award called
Mother's Cross (
Mutterkreuz), according to categories that depended on the number of children a mother had. The medal was awarded on Mother's Day and also on other holidays due to a large number of recipients. The Cross was an effort to encourage women to have more children, and recipients were required to have at least four.
Hungary In
Hungary, Mother's Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of May. It was first celebrated in 1925 and is celebrated every year on the second Sunday of May. Indians do not celebrate the occasion as a religious event; its celebration is mostly restricted to urban areas where the occasion has been largely commercialized.
Indonesia Indonesian Mother's Day () is celebrated nationally on 22 December. The date was made an official holiday by President
Sukarno under Presidential Decree No. 316/1953, on the 25th anniversary of the 1928 Indonesian Women Congress. The day originally sought to celebrate the spirit of Indonesian women and to improve the condition of the nation. Today, the meaning of Mother's Day has changed, and it is celebrated by expressing love and gratitude to mothers. People present gifts to mothers (such as flowers) and hold surprise parties and competitions, which include cooking and
kebaya wearing. People also allow mothers a day off from domestic chores. The Congress intended to improve women's rights in education and marriage. The observance was instituted at the 1938 Indonesian Women Congress. During President
Suharto's
New Order (1965–1998), government propaganda used Mother's Day and Kartini Day to inculcate into women the idea that they should be docile and stay at home. On this day, banners reading "
Ya Fatemeah (O! Fatemeh)" are displayed on "government buildings, private buildings, public streets and car windows." In 1960, the Institute for Women Protection adopted the Western holiday and established it on 25
Azar (16 December), the date the Institute was founded. The Institute's action had the support of Empress
Farah Pahlavi, the wife of the last Shah of Persia, who promoted the construction of maternity clinics in remote parts of the country to commemorate the day.
Pahlavi regime used the holiday to promote "gender ideologies" of the regime. Fatimah is seen by these critics as the chosen model of a woman completely dedicated to certain traditionally sanctioned feminine roles. However, supporters of the choice contend that there is much more to her life story than simply such "traditional" roles.
Ireland In
Ireland, Mother's Day is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of
Lent, as in the United Kingdom, and has the same roots in
Mothering Sunday. The practice died out in Ireland around the late 18th century but was revived around the 1950s due to
Americanisation.
Israel The Jewish population of Israel used to celebrate Mother's Day on
Shevat 30 of the Jewish calendar, which falls between 30 January and 1 March. The celebration was set as the same date that
Henrietta Szold died (13 February 1945). Henrietta had no biological children, but her organization
Youth Aliyah rescued many Jewish children from Nazi Germany and provided for them. She also championed children's rights. Szold is considered the "mother" of all those children, and that is why her annual remembrance day (יום השנה) was set as Mother's Day (יוֹם הָאֵם, yom ha'em). The holiday has evolved over time, becoming a celebration of mutual love inside the family, called Family Day (יוֹם הַמִשְּפָּחָה, yom hamishpacha). This holiday is mainly celebrated in preschools with an activity to which parents are invited. Mother's Day is mainly celebrated by children at kindergartens. There are no longer mutual gifts among members of the family, and there is no longer any commercialization of the celebration. It is not an official holiday.
Italy Mother's Day in
Italy was celebrated for the first time on 24 December 1933 as the "Day of the mother and the child" (
Giornata della madre e del fanciullo). It was instituted by the
Opera nazionale maternità e infanzia in order to publicly reward the most prolific Italian women every year. After
World War II, Mother's Day was first celebrated on 12 May 1957 in
Assisi, at the initiative of Reverend Otello Migliosi, the
parish priest of the
Tordibetto church. This celebration was so popular that in the following year Mother's Day was adopted throughout Italy. On 18 December 1958, a proposal was presented to the
Italian Senate to make the holiday official.
Japan In
Japan, was initially commemorated during the
Shōwa period as the birthday of
Empress Kōjun (mother of
Emperor Akihito) on 6 March. This was established in 1931 when the Imperial Women's Union was organized. In 1937, the first meeting of "Praise Mothers" was held on 8 May, and in 1949 Japanese society adopted the second Sunday of May as the official date for Mother's Day in Japan. Today, people typically give their mothers gifts of flowers such as red
carnations and
roses. Giving carnations on Mother's Day is the most common in Japan.
Kyrgyzstan In
Kyrgyzstan, Mother's Day is celebrated on 19 May every year. The holiday was first celebrated in 2012. Mothers are also honored on
International Women's Day Latvia Mother's Day in
Latvia was celebrated for the first time in 1922. Since 1934, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. After the end of the Soviet
occupation of Baltic states celebration was resumed in 1992. Mothers are also honored on
International Women's Day.
Lithuania Mother's Day in Lithuania was celebrated for the first time in 1929. In Lithuania, Mother's Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of May. The conservative government tried to use the holiday to promote a more conservative role for mothers in families, but that perspective was criticized by the socialists as promoting an unrealistic image of a woman who was not good for much more than breeding. Soledad Orozco García, the wife of President
Manuel Ávila Camacho, promoted the holiday during the 1940s, resulting in an important state-sponsored celebration. Due to Orozco's promotion, the Catholic
National Synarchist Union (UNS) took heed of the holiday around 1941. Shop-owner members of the Party of the Mexican Revolution (now the
Institutional Revolutionary Party) observed a custom allowing women from humble classes to pick a free Mother's Day gift from a shop to bring home to their families. The Synarchists worried that this promoted both materialism and the idleness of lower classes, and in turn, reinforced the systemic social problems of the country. Currently this holiday practice is viewed as very conservative, but the 1940s' UNS saw Mother's Day as part of the larger debate on the modernization that was happening at the time. The UNS and the clergy of the city of
León interpreted the government's actions as an effort to secularize the holiday and to promote a more active role for women in society. They concluded that the government's long-term goal was to cause women to abandon their traditional roles at home in order to spiritually weaken men. There is a consensus among scholars that the Mexican government abandoned its revolutionary initiatives during the 1940s, including its efforts to influence Mother's Day. the day on which it was first celebrated in Mexico. In Mexico, to show affection and appreciation to the mother, it is traditional to start the celebration with the famous song "
Las Mañanitas", either a cappella, with the help of a mariachi or a contracted trio. Families usually gather to celebrate, trying to spend as much time as possible with mothers to honor them. They bring some dishes and eat together or visit a restaurant.
Myanmar In Myanmar, Mothers' Day (the plural form of mother is used as an official title) is celebrated on the full moon day of
Pyatho, the tenth month of the Myanmar calendar, which usually falls in January. At the proposal and initiative of
U Thukha, who put a lot of effort into founding this day, it was first celebrated in
Mandalay on the full moon day of Pyatho in 1995, but it was officially added to the Myanmar calendar in 1997, two years after its first celebration. People who are away from home, send postcards or phone their mothers to express love and gratitude and those who live with their mother, give her personal service, like bathing or shampooing, and usually take her to pagodas.
Nepal In
Nepal, there is a festival equivalent to Mother's Day, called Mata Tirtha Aunsi ("Mother Pilgrimage New Moon"), or Mata Tirtha
Puja ("Mother Pilgrimage Worship"). It is celebrated according to the lunar calendar. It falls on the last day of the dark fortnight in the month of
Baishakh which falls in April–May (in 2015, it will occur on 18 April). The dark fortnight lasts for 15 days from the full moon to the new moon. This festival is observed to commemorate and honor mothers, and it is celebrated by giving gifts to mothers and remembering mothers who are no more. To honor mothers who have died, it is the tradition to go on a pilgrimage to the Mata Tirtha ponds, located 6 km to the southwest of downtown
Kathmandu. The nearby
Mata Tirtha village is named after these ponds. Previously, the tradition was observed primarily by the
Newar community and other people living in the
Kathmandu Valley. Now this festival is widely celebrated across the country. Many tragic
folklore legends have been created, suggesting different reasons why this pond became a pilgrimage site. The most popular version says that, in ancient times, the mother of a shepherd died, and he made offerings to a nearby pond. There he saw the face of his mother in the water, with her hand taking the offerings. Since then, many people have visited the pond, hoping to see their deceased mother's face. Pilgrims believe that they will bring peace to their mothers' souls by visiting the sacred place. There are two ponds. The larger one is for ritual bathing. The smaller one is used to "look upon mother's face", and is fenced by iron bars to prevent people from bathing in it. Traditionally, in the Kathmandu valley the South-Western corner is reserved for women and women-related rituals, and the North-Eastern is for men and men-related rituals. The worship place for Mata Tirtha Aunsi is located in Mata Tirtha in the South-Western half of the valley, while the worship place for
Gokarna Aunsi, the equivalent celebration for deceased fathers is located in
Gokarna, Nepal, in the North-Eastern half. This division is reflected in many aspects of the life in Kathmandu valley. Mother's Day is known as Aama ko Mukh Herne Din in
Nepali, which literally means "day to see mother's face". In
Nepal Bhasa, the festival is known as Mām yā Khwā Swayegu, which can be translated as "to look upon mother's face".
Netherlands In the
Netherlands, Mother's Day was introduced as early as 1910 by the Dutch branch of the
Salvation Army. The Royal Dutch Society for Horticulture and Botany, a group protecting the interest of Dutch florists, worked to promote the holiday; they hoped to emulate the commercial success achieved by American florists. They were imitating the campaign already underway by florists in Germany and Austria, but they were aware that the traditions had originated in the US. In the 1930s and 1940s "Mother's Day cakes" were given as gifts in hospitals and to the
Dutch Queen, who is known as the "mother of the country". Catholic organizations and priests tried to Christianize the holiday, but those attempts were rendered futile around the 1960s when the church lost influence and the holiday was completely secularized. In the 1980s, the American origin of the holiday was still not widely known, so feminist groups who opposed the perpetuation of gender roles sometimes claimed that Mother's Day was invented by Nazis and celebrated on the birthday of
Klara Hitler, Hitler's mother.
New Zealand In
New Zealand, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. Mother's Day is not a public holiday. The New Zealand tradition is to send or give cards and gifts, and for children to serve their mothers breakfast in bed.
Nicaragua In
Nicaragua, the
Día de la Madre has been celebrated on 30 May since the early 1940s. The date was chosen by President
Anastasio Somoza García because it was the birthday of Casimira Sacasa, his wife's mother.
North Korea Mother's Day is celebrated on 16 November as a
public holiday in North Korea. The date takes its significance from the First National Meeting of Mothers held in 1961, for which
Kim Il Sung, the
leader of the country, published a work called
The Duty of Mothers in the Education of Children. The date was designated as Mother's Day in May 2012 by the
Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly but only became a public holiday and appeared on the
North Korean calendar starting in 2015.
Norway Mother's Day was first celebrated on 9 February 1919 and was initially organized by religious institutions. Later it has become a family day, and the mother is often treated to breakfast in bed, flowers and cake. It has gradually become a major commercial event, with special pastries, flowers and other presents offered by retailers. Day-cares and primary schools often encourage children to make cards and other gifts.
Pakistan In
Pakistan, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. Media channels celebrate with special shows. Individuals honor their mothers by giving gifts and commemorative articles. Individuals who have lost their mothers pray and pay their respects to their loved ones lost. Schools hold special programs in order to acknowledge the efforts of their mothers.
Panama In
Panama, Mother's Day is celebrated on 8 December, the same day as the
Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This date was suggested in 1930 by the wife of Panama's President
Florencio Harmodio Arosemena. 8 December was adopted as Mother's Day under Law 69, which was passed the same year. According to another account, in 1924 the
Rotary Club of Panama asked that Mother's Day be celebrated on 11 May. Politician Aníbal D. Ríos changed the proposal so that the celebration would be held on 8 December. He then established Mother's Day as a national holiday on that date.
Paraguay In
Paraguay, Mother's Day is celebrated on 15 May, the same day as the
Dia de la Patria, which celebrates the
independence of Paraguay. In 2008, the Paraguayan Minister of Culture, Bruno Barrios, lamented this coincidence because, in Paraguay, Mother's Day is much more popular than independence day and the independence celebration goes unnoticed. As a result, Barrios asked that the celebration be moved to the end of the month. In 2008, the
Comisión de festejos (Celebration Committee) of the city of
Asunción asked that Mother's Day be moved to the second Sunday of May.
Philippines In the
Philippines, Mother's Day is officially celebrated on the second Sunday of May, but it is not a public holiday. Although not a traditional Filipino holiday, the occasion owes its popularity to
American Colonial Period influence. According to a 2008 article by the
Philippine News Agency, in 1921 the
Ilocos Norte Federation of Women's Clubs asked to declare the first Monday of December as Mother's Day "to honor these fabulous women who brought forth God's children into this world." In response,
Governor-General Charles Yeater issued Circular No. 33 declaring the celebration. In 1937
President Manuel L. Quezon issued Presidential Proclamation No. 213, changing the name of the occasion from "Mother's Day" to "Parent's Day" to address the complaints that there wasn't a "Father's Day". In 1980 President
Ferdinand Marcos issued Presidential Proclamation No. 2037 proclaiming the date as both Mother's Day and Father's Day. In 1988 President
Corazon Aquino issued Presidential Proclamation No. 266, changing Mother's Day to the second Sunday of May, and Father's Day to the third Sunday of June, discontinuing the traditional date. In 1998 President
Joseph Estrada returned both celebrations to the first Monday of December. Previously, Mother's Day was celebrated on 8 March, as part of
International Women's Day (a tradition dating back to when Romania was part of the
Eastern bloc). Today, Mother's Day and International Women's Day are two separate holidays, with International Women's Day being held on its original date of 8 March.
Russia Traditionally
Russia had celebrated International Women's Day and Mother's Day on 8 March, an inheritance from the
Soviet Union, and a public holiday. Women's Day was first celebrated on the last Sunday in February in 1913 in Russia. In 1917, demonstrations marking International Women's Day in
Saint Petersburg on the last Sunday in February (which fell on 8 March on the
Gregorian calendar) initiated the
February Revolution. Following the
October Revolution later that year, the
Bolshevik Alexandra Kollontai persuaded
Vladimir Lenin to make it an official holiday in the Soviet Union, and it was established, but was a working day until 1965. On 8 May 1965, by the decree of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, International Women's Day was declared a non-working day in the Soviet Union "in commemoration of the outstanding merits of Soviet women in communistic construction, in the defense of their
Fatherland during the
Great Patriotic War, in their heroism and selflessness at the front and in the rear, and also marking the great contribution of women to strengthening friendship between peoples, and the struggle for peace. But still, women's day must be celebrated as are other holidays."
Samoa In
Samoa, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May, and as a recognised national holiday on the Monday following.
Singapore In
Singapore, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. It is not recognized as a holiday by the government.
Slovakia Czechoslovakia celebrated only Women's Day until the
Velvet Revolution in 1989. After the country split in 1993,
Slovakia started celebrating both Women's Day and Mother's Day. The politicization of Women's Day has affected the official status of Mother's Day. Center-right parties want Mother's Day to replace Women's Day, and social-democrats want to make Women's Day an official holiday. Currently, both days are festive, but they are not "state holidays". In the Slovak Republic, Mother's Day is celebrated every second Sunday in May. Typical customs include giving carnations, writing letters, and spending time with one's parents.
South Sudan In
South Sudan, Mother's Day is celebrated on the first Monday in July. The president
Salva Kiir Mayardit proclaimed Mother's Day as the first Monday in July after handing over from Sudan. Children in South Sudan are presenting mothers with gifts and flowers. The first Mother's Day was held in that country on 2 July 2012.
Spain In Spain, Mother's Day or Día de la Madre is celebrated on the first Sunday of May. The weeks leading up to this Sunday, school children spend a few hours a day preparing a gift for their mothers, aided by their school teachers. In general, mothers receive gifts from their family members & this day is meant to be celebrated with the whole family. It is also said to be celebrated in May, as May is the month dedicated to the Virgin Mary (mother of Jesus) according to Catholicism. The idea of a month dedicated specifically to Mary can be traced back to baroque times. Although it wasn't always held during May, Mary Month included thirty daily spiritual exercises honoring Mary. In 1925 the Valencian poet
Julio Menéndez García published a
Hymn to Mother in a pamphlet in which he proposed the celebration of Mother's Day in all Spanish-speaking countries. The official declaration was never produced, but at that time the initiative was adopted at a local level on different dates; thus, for example, in Madrid, Mother's Day was celebrated on 4 October 1926. In 1939 the
Youth Front of
FET y de las JONS party, promoted the celebration of Mother's Day coinciding with the feast of the Immaculate Conception, on 8 December. In the early 1960s, on the initiative of a chain of department stores (
Galerías Preciados), which copied the custom established in Cuba, Mother's Day was also celebrated on the first Sunday of May (
El Corte Inglés, the great competitor of Galerías Preciados, celebrated the holiday in December). The two dates, May and December, coexisted until 1965 when the ecclesiastical authorities chose to celebrate the festival in May, within the month consecrated to the Virgin, to recover the authentic character of the Day of the Immaculate Conception.
Sri Lanka In Sri Lanka, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May.
Sweden In
Sweden, Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1919, by an initiative of the author Cecilia Bååth-Holmberg. It took several decades for the day to be widely recognized. Swedes born in the early nineteen hundreds typically did not celebrate the day because of the common belief that the holiday was invented strictly for commercial purposes. This was in contrast to Father's Day, which has been widely celebrated in Sweden since the late 1970s. Mother's Day in Sweden is celebrated on the last Sunday in May. A later date was chosen to allow everyone to go outside and pick flowers.
Switzerland In
Switzerland, the "règle de Pentecôte" law allows Mother's Day to be celebrated a week late if the holiday falls on the same day as Pentecost. In 2008, merchants declined to move the date.
Taiwan In
Taiwan, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of the month of May, coinciding with
Buddha's Birthday and the traditional ceremony of "washing the Buddha". In 1999 the Taiwanese government established the second Sunday of May as Buddha's Birthday, so they would be celebrated in the same day. Since 2006, the
Tzu Chi, the largest charity organization in Taiwan, celebrates the Tzu Chi Day, Mother's Day and Buddha's Birthday all together, as part of a unified celebration and religious observance.
Thailand Mother's day in
Thailand is celebrated on the birthday of the Queen Mother of Thailand,
Sirikit (12 August). The holiday was first celebrated around the 1980s as part of the campaign by the Prime Minister of Thailand
Prem Tinsulanonda to promote Thailand's Royal family.
Ukraine Ukraine celebrates Mother's Day () on the second Sunday of May. In Ukraine, Mother's Day officially became a holiday in 1999 and has been celebrated since 2000. Ukrainian society also celebrates
International Women's Day, a holiday adopted under the
Soviet Union that remained a tradition in Ukraine after
its collapse.
United Kingdom s outside, in the week before Mother's Day 2008 The
United Kingdom celebrates Mother's Day on the
Fourth Sunday in Lent (). In the United Kingdom, the holiday has its roots in the religious
Mothering Sunday celebration and was originally unrelated to the international Mother's Day holiday.
United States ,
Michelle Obama and
Jill Biden helping children create Mother's Day cards at the
White House, 9 May 2013 The United States celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In 1872
Julia Ward Howe called for women to join in support of disarmament and asked for 2 June 1872, to be established as a "Mother's Day for Peace". Her 1870 "Appeal to womanhood throughout the world" is sometimes referred to as
Mother's Day Proclamation. But Howe's day was not for honouring mothers but for organizing pacifist mothers against war. In the 1880s and 1890s there were several further attempts to establish an American "Mother's Day", but these did not succeed beyond the local level.