Icelandic National Day
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Icelandic National Day or Þjóðhátíðardagurinn (the day of the nation's celebration). June 17, 1944, was chosen as the day that The Republic of Iceland (Lýðveldið Ísland) was formed. Iceland had formerly been under Danish rule. The formation of the republic repealed the 1918 Act of Union.
Due to Denmark being occupied by German forces and Iceland by the British at the time, Denmark did not have as much influence over Iceland and, mainly for simplicity, allowed the country its complete independence, which included the rewriting of the Icelandic constitution and the transformation of Iceland into a republic. The people of Iceland celebrated, and praised Jón Sigurðsson (1811-1879) and Sveinn Björnsson, who became the first president of independent Iceland.
Today, Icelanders celebrate this holiday on a national scale. The celebration traditionally takes the form of a parade through each urban area, with a brass band at the fore. Riders on Icelandic horses often precede the brass band and flagbearers from the Icelandic scout movement traditionally follow the brass band. After the parade several speeches are held out in the open. Traditionally there is also Fjallkonan (the woman of the mountain), clad in the most festive national dress of Iceland who recites a poem. She represents the fierce spirit of the Icelandic nation and of Icelandic nature; this is in many ways an inheritance from the period of romanticism that was reigning when the first steps toward independence were being taken. After speeches and other officialities are over, a less formal celebration takes place, with musicians entertaining the crowd, candy being devoured by children in huge quantities and gas filled balloons escaping their owners and flying to the sky. It is also somewhat traditional to expect rain on the 17th of June in Iceland, in particular the SW part. However statistics will probably reveal that the incidence of rain on the 17th of June is no more than any other day of June.
June 17 was chosen as the day for the formation of The Icelandic Republic as it is the birthday of Jón Sigurðsson, who was a major figure of the Icelandic culture and the leader of the 19th century Icelandic independence movement.
