Guess what day it is today? It’s Sweden’s National Day! If you see any blue and yellow flags you know why! So, what better to write about than the celebration of national days in Sweden vs the USA. To kick this off, I would like to say that Sweden and the US are quite different in this area. They both celebrate their national days, but the level of celebration is much higher in the US, than in Sweden. Here’s why:
Okay, this looks like a lot, I will admit… But this is at ONE place only.
As I wrote in my previous post (I know it has been a week, sorry people), Swedish social conduct does not encourage you to be proud, or at least not to talk about it openly.* When it comes to nationalism in Europe, the same thing goes. The thing is, nationalism** in the past has proven to be a bit complicated in Europe, you know, it may or may not have lead to a couple of wars… So, now a days, Most Europeans tend to be a little more careful about waving their flags or bragging openly about how great their country is. There are some exceptions of course, Sweden’s neighbour, Norway, as usual can’t take a hint. (:
Patriotism*** in the States on the other hand, is big. As previously mentioned in my last post, Americans aren’t weighed down by any social conduct, it is okay to brag and be proud. According to my understanding, the US is somewhat built on this way of thinking. From the start, it was a free country where you could believe in whatever you wanted, and be proud of it. I will dig deeper into this topic in a later post. Anyway, now that I’ve explained a little about the nationalism & patriotism in the countries, we can move on to how they actually celebrate.
Most of you have probably heard about the 4th of July in the US. Celebrations are massive. There are parades, fireworks, food, music and A LOT of American flags EVERYWHERE. Now, I’ve never actually properly celebrated the 4th of July while in the US, so I can’t speak from my own experiences, this is all based on what people have told me. However, I have been in Sweden during the national day many times.
It’s a little funny, but June 6th, Sweden’s national day, was actually made a public holiday in 2005, with the hopes that more people would go out and celebrate. **** Needless to say, celebrating big isn’t a thing. There is a ceremony, broadcasted on TV, where the King and Queen take part. The flag is run up the mast and there are music performances by known artists. Some children dress up in traditional peasant costumes and for once there are a lot of flags being waved. Other than this, there isn’t that much going on. In my home city, Gothenburg, the Gothenburg symphony orchestra has a concert in our central park and a lot of people will go there and have picnics. Some bakeries will make pastries with Swedish flags in them. Lastly, there is one more important thing that Swedes do on the national day: there are special ceremonies welcoming new Swedish citizens to the country. Now you know a little bit more about the celebration of national days in Sweden and the US, hope you enjoyed.And remember, this is all based on my experiences, others may think differently about it.
-K
*https://swedesour.home.blog/2019/05/28/pridepretentiousness/
**https://www.thefreedictionary.com/nationalism
Swede&Sour 