A national day of mourning is a day or days marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by the national government. Such days include those marking the death or funeral of a renowned individual or individuals from that country or elsewhere or the anniversary of such a death or deaths, the anniversaries of a significant natural or man-made disaster occurring either in the country or another country, wartime commemorations or in memory of the victims of a terrorist attack. Flying a national or military flag of that country at half-staff is a common symbol.
List
The following are lists for national days of mourning across the world:
Selected list of figures recognized
State officials
- A National Day of Mourning is typically declared for Presidents of the United States, usually on the day of their funerals. Beginning with John F. Kennedy, these days are also considered federal holidays. There was no official day of mourning for Herbert Hoover.[1]
- In the Soviet Union, an official mourning period was reserved for the deaths of leaders or former leaders, with Alexei Rykov, Nikita Khrushchev and Georgy Malenkov being notable exceptions after Rykov was executed during the Great Purge and the other two were relegated to obscurity. Khrushchev's death was announced only hours before he was buried without full state honors,[2] while Malenkov's death was announced more than 2 weeks after his death.[3] This custom changed in 1968 when a national day of mourning was declared for Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human to journey into outer space.[4][5] In the final years of the Soviet Union, official mourning was declared for 2 disasters: the 1988 Armenian earthquake and the Ufa train disaster.[6]
- Presidents of Mexico, usually on the day of their funerals (these days are usually considered municipal and religious holidays in Mexico City and federal holidays in the rest of the republic.) Miguel de la Madrid in 2012 was the most recent.
International days of mourning
A similar but rarely-used concept exists at the European Union-level and is called a European Day of Mourning. The European Commission first introduced the concept on 12 September 2001, when a day of mourning was declared across EU member states for the victims of the terrorist attacks in the United States. A second day of mourning was held in November 2015 for the victims of the Paris attacks.
Remembrance events
While not the same as a national day of mourning, some remembrance events and protests are called a "day of mourning".
- Circassian Day of Mourning, held May 21, commemorating Circassian defeat in the Russian-Circassian War
- Day of Mourning (Australia), annual protest of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians held on Australia Day, 26 January
- National Day of Mourning (United States protest), an American Indian protest held on the fourth Thursday of November
- National Day of Mourning (Canadian observance), held 28 April, a commemoration of workers killed or injured on the job
- Nakba Day, Annual commemoration of the 1948 Palestinian exodus on 15 May by Palestinians worldwide.
See also
References
- ^ "Past State Funerals". usstatefuneral.mdw.army.mil.
- ^ Gwertzman, Bernard (September 13, 1971). "Soviet Announces Khrushchev Death in Cool Language". The New York Times.
- ^ Pearson, Richard (February 2, 1988). "George Malenkov Dies". The Washington Post.
- ^ Sudakov, Dmitry (March 28, 2013). "Gagarin's death: Obvious mystery". PravdaReport.
- ^ Duranty, Walter (January 23, 1924). "Lenin Dies Of Cerebral Hemorrhage; Moscow Throngs Overcome With Grief; Trotsky Departs Ill, Radek In Disfavor". The New York Times.
- ^ "Когда и по какому поводу в России объявляли общенациональный траур. Инфографика". BBC News Русская служба (in Russian). March 28, 2018.