Difference between revisions of "Mother's Day"

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(trying to remove too-obvious bias (some bias is ok, but I think too much just damages CP))
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[[Image:Mothersdayad1913.png|240 px|right|thumb|1913 advertisement in the Boston Globe]]  
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{{about|several worldwide days celebrating motherhood}}
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In the United States, '''Mother's Day''' is held on the second Sunday in May. Customs include churchgoing,<ref>Kalas, J. Ellsworth (2004), ''Preaching the Calendar: Celebrating Holidays and Holy Days,'' [http://books.google.com/books?id=QQpXwIt3ihAC&pg=PA76&ots=mlIDxskAwl&dq=%22third+only+to+Christmas+Eve+and+Easter%22&sig=GcM51tchhsueaID7zb2bsDpuAwo p. 76]), "church attendance on this day is likely to be third only to Christmas Eve and Easter"</ref> presenting mothers with gifts or taking them out to dinner, and wearing carnations (brightly-colored for living mothers, white in memory of deceased mothers).  
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{{Infobox Holiday |
 +
|holiday_name=Mother's Day
 +
|observedby=Many countries
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|date=Varies regionally
 +
|type=Historical
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|relatedto=[[Father's Day]]
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}}
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'''Mother's Day''' is a day honoring [[mother]]s, celebrated on various days in many places around the world. It complements [[Father's Day]], the celebration honoring [[father]]s.  
 +
==History==
 +
Different countries celebrate Mother's Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins.  
  
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It is the holiday on which the largest number of telephone calls are placed, the second most popular holiday dining out occasion,<ref>"Father's Day vs. Mother's Day," ''The Boston Herald,'' June 20, 1999</ref> and the fifth highest consumer spending season: $11.43 billion in 2006.<ref>Billions of USD: Halloween $3.29; St. Patrick's Day $3.80; Father's Day $8.23; Super Bowl $8.70; Mother's Day $11.43; Easter $14.37; Valentine's Day $16.90; Back to School/College $54.20; Winter Holidays[sic] $457.40. [http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=Pages&sp_id=390 Annual Report], National Retail Federation: .xls file at "Consumer Holiday Spending Pie Chart" link</ref> A 2006 survey showed that 85% of all consumers planned to celebrate Mother's Day, and to spend an average of $120. About 85% planned to buy greeting cards, 70% flowers, 60% a meal at a restaurant, 30% clothing, 30% jewelry, and 30% gift certificates.<ref>[http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=Pages&sp_id=390 Annual Report], National Retail Federation: .pdf file at "Mothers Day 2006" link. Total does not add to 100% because of multiple purchases.</ref>
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One school of thought claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in [[ancient Greece]], which kept a festival to [[Cybele]], a great mother of Greek gods. This festival was held around the [[Vernal Equinox]] around Asia Minor and eventually in Rome itself from the [[Ides of March]] ([[15 March]]) to [[18 March]].  
  
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==History==
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The [[ancient Romans]] also had another holiday, [[Matronalia]], that was dedicated to [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]], though mothers were usually given gifts on this day.
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Mother's Day was first celebrated on a large scale in the churches and Sunday schools of Philadelphia in 1908. The founder of Mother's Day was Anna Jarvis (1864-1948), whose mother had died on May 9, 1905. Jarvis' mother, Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis (1832-1905) had been a pillar of the local community. Her life revolved around the Andrews Methodist Church, which she helped to build. She had organized a series of "Mothers' Day Work Clubs" devoted to improving health and sanitation in area towns;<ref>[http://www.wvculture.org/History/jarvis.html Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis], West Virginia State Archives</ref> these clubs assisted both Union and Confederate encampments in combating an outbreak of typhoid fever, and conducted a "Mothers' Friendship Day" to help in reconciling families divided by the Civil War.<ref>[http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvtaylor/mother.htm The Mother of Mother's Day], rootsweb</ref> As a memorial, her daughter dedicated her life to the establishment and promotion of a national, and then an international Mother's Day.  
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 +
In addition to Mother's Day, [[International Women's Day]] is celebrated in many countries, most often on [[March 8th]].
 +
 
 +
==Spelling==
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 +
In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day". <ref name="vancouversun" />
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{{quote|1="She was specific about the location of the apostrophe; it was to be a singular possessive, for each family to honour their mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world." <ref name="vancouversun" />}}
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 +
This is also the spelling used by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson on the law making official the holiday on the U.S., by U.S. Congress on bills, <ref name="vote274">[http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2008-274 House Vote #274 (May 7, 2008)] H. Res. 1113: Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day (Vote On Passage)</ref><ref name="vote275">[http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2008-275 House Vote #275 (May 7, 2008)] Table Motion to Reconsider: H RES 1113 Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother’s Day</ref> and by other U.S. President on their declarations. <ref>Presidential proclamations from The American Presidency Project:
 +
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=14859 71 - Mother's Day Proclamation], [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], May 3 1934.
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* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=24097 Proclamation 3535 Mother's Day, 1963] [[John F. Kennedy]], 26 April 1963.
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* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=75197 Proclamation 3583 - Mother's Day, 1964] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], 23 April 1964
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* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=834 Proclamation 4437 - Mother's Day, 1976], [[Gerald Ford]], May 5 1976.
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* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=1845 Proclamation 6133 - Mother's Day, 1990], [[George H. W. Bush|George Bush]], May 10 1990
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* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=62428 Proclamation 6559 - Mother's Day, 1993], [[Bill J. Clinton]], May 7 1993.
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* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=77285 Proclamation 8253 - Mother's Day, 2008], [[George W. Bush]], May 8 2008.</ref>
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 +
Common usage in English language also dictates that the ostensibly singular possessive "Mother's Day" is the preferred spelling.
 +
 
 +
== Dates around the world ==
 +
Mother's Day is celebrated on different days throughout the world. Examining the [[Google Trends|trends in Google searches]] for the term "mother's day" shows two primary results, the smaller one on the fourth Sunday in [[Lent]] (it is also called ladies day and women's day), and the larger one on the second Sunday in May.<ref>{{cite web
 +
| url = http://www.google.com/trends?q=mothers+day&ctab=0&date=all&geo=all
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| title = mothers day (sic)
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| work = Google Trends
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| publisher = [[Google]]
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| accessdaymonth = 28 May
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| accessyear = 2006
 +
}}</ref>
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 +
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 (compare the celebrations of [[Diwali]] in the [[UK]] and the [[United States]]).
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 +
''Note: Countries that celebrate [[International Women's Day]] are marked with a cross '†'.
 +
<br>
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
! width="100px" | Occurrence 
 +
! width="100px"| Dates
 +
! colspan="6" | Country
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top" |
 +
Second Sunday of February
 +
|valign="top" width="150px"|
 +
February 10 2008 <br>
 +
February 8 2009 <br>
 +
February 14 2010 <br>
 +
| colspan="6" valign="top" |
 +
{{flagicon| Norway}} [[Norway]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top" |
 +
[[February 2]]
 +
|
 +
| colspan="6" valign="top" |
 +
{{flagicon| Greece}} [[Greece]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top" |
 +
[[Shevat]] 30 <br>
 +
(Falls anywhere between [[January 30]] and [[March 1]])
 +
|
 +
|colspan="6" valign="top" |
 +
{{flagicon| Israel}} [[Israel]]
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top" |
 +
[[March 3]]
 +
|
 +
| colspan="6" valign="top" |
 +
{{flagicon| Georgia}} [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top" |
 +
[[March 8]]
 +
|
 +
| width="150px" valign="top"|
 +
{{flagicon| Afghanistan}}  [[Afghanistan]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Albania}}[[Albania]]† <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Armenia}} [[Armenia]] <br>
 +
| width="150px" valign="top"|
 +
{{flagicon| Azerbaijan}} [[Azerbaijan]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Belarus}} [[Belarus]]† <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Bosnia and Herzegovina}} [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] <br>
 +
| width="150px" valign="top"|
 +
{{flagicon| Bulgaria}} [[Bulgaria]]† <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Laos}} [[Laos]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Macedonia}} [[Republic of Macedonia|Macedonia]]† <br>
 +
| width="150px" valign="top"|
 +
{{flagicon| Moldova}} [[Moldova]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Montenegro}} [[Montenegro]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Romania}} [[Romania]] <br>
 +
| width="150px" valign="top"|
 +
{{flagicon| Russia}} [[Russia]]† <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Serbia}} [[Serbia]] <br>
 +
| width="150px" valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
|--
 +
|valign="top" | 
 +
Fourth Sunday in [[Lent]]
 +
| valign="top" |
 +
[[March 2]] 2008 <br>
 +
March 22 2009 <br>
 +
March 14 2010 <br>
 +
| valign="top" |
 +
{{flagicon| Ireland}} [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Nigeria}} [[Nigeria]] <br>
 +
| colspan="6" valign="top" |
 +
{{flagicon| United Kingdom}} [[United Kingdom]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top" |
 +
[[March 21]] <br>
 +
([[Equinox|vernal equinox)]]
 +
|
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
{{flagicon| Bahrain}} [[Bahrain]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Egypt}} [[Egypt]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Iraq}} [[Iraq]] <br>
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
{{flagicon| Jordan}} [[Jordan]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Kuwait}} [[Kuwait]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Oman}} [[Oman]] <br>
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
{{flagicon| Lebanon}} [[Lebanon]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Palestine}} [[Palestine]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Qatar}} [[Qatar]] <br>
 +
|valign="top"|
 +
{{flagicon| Saudi Arabia}} [[Saudi Arabia]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Sudan}} [[Sudan]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Syria}} [[Syria]] <br>
 +
|valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| United Arab Emirates}} [[United Arab Emirates]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Yemen}} [[Yemen]] (All {{flagicon| Arab League}} [[Arab countries]] in general) <br>
 +
|--
 +
|  valign="top"|
 +
[[March 25]]
 +
|
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Slovenia}} [[Slovenia]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
|valign="top"|
 +
[[April 7]]
 +
|
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Armenia}} [[Armenia]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
|valign="top"|
 +
[[April 2]] <br>
 +
(Chinese calendar)
 +
|
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| China}} [[China]]† <br>
 +
|--
 +
|valign="top"|
 +
[[Baisakh]] [[Amavasya]] (Mata Tirtha Aunsi)
 +
|
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Nepal}} [[Nepal]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
|valign="top"|
 +
First Sunday of May
 +
|valign="top"|
 +
May 4 2008 <br>
 +
May 3 2009 <br>
 +
May 2 2010 <br>
 +
|valign="top"|
 +
{{flagicon| Hungary}} [[Hungary]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Lithuania}} [[Lithuania]]* <br>
 +
|valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Portugal}} [[Portugal]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Spain}} [[Spain]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
[[May 8]]
 +
|
 +
|valign="top" colspan="6" width="150px"|
 +
{{flagicon| Albania}} [[Albania]] ([[Parents' Day]]) <br>
 +
{{flagicon| South Korea}} [[South Korea]] ([[Parents' Day]]) <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
[[May 10]]
 +
|
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
{{flagicon| El Salvador}} [[El Salvador]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Guatemala}} [[Guatemala]] <br>
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Mexico}} [[Mexico]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
Second Sunday of May
 +
|valign="top"|
 +
[[May 11]] 2008 <br>
 +
May 10 2009 <br>
 +
May 9 2010 <br>
 +
|valign="top" width="150px"| 
 +
{{flagicon| Anguilla}} [[Anguilla]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Aruba}} [[Aruba]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Australia}} [[Australia]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Austria}} [[Austria]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Bahamas}} [[Bahamas]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Bangladesh}} [[Bangladesh]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Barbados}} [[Barbados]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Belgium}} [[Belgium]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Belize}} [[Belize]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Bermuda}} [[Bermuda]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Bonaire}} [[Bonaire]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Brazil}} [[Brazil]] <br>
 +
|valign="top" width="150px"| 
 +
{{flagicon| Brunei}} [[Brunei]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Bulgaria}} [[Bulgaria]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Canada}} [[Canada]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Chile}} [[Chile]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| China}} [[Mainland China]]† <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Taiwan}} [[Republic of China]] (Taiwan) <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Colombia}} [[Colombia]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Croatia}} [[Croatia]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Cuba}} [[Cuba]] <ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.enlace.cu/efemeride/mayo.htm | title = Principales efemérides. Mes Mayo | publisher = [[Unión de Periodistas de Cuba]] | accessdate = 2008-06-07 }}</ref><br>
 +
{{flagicon| Curaçao}} [[Curaçao]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Cyprus}} [[Cyprus]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Czech Republic}} [[Czech Republic]] <br>
 +
|valign="top" width="150px"| 
 +
{{flagicon| Denmark}} [[Denmark]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Ecuador}} [[Ecuador]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Estonia}} [[Estonia]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Finland}} [[Finland]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Germany}} [[Germany]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Ghana}} [[Ghana]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Greece}} [[Greece]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Grenada}} [[Grenada]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Honduras}} [[Honduras]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Hong Kong}} [[Hong Kong]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Iceland}} [[Iceland]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| India}} [[India]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Italy}} [[Italy]]† <br>
 +
|valign="top" width="150px"| 
 +
{{flagicon| Jamaica}} [[Jamaica]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Japan}} [[Japan]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Latvia}} [[Latvia]]* <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Malta}}  [[Malta]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Malaysia}} [[Malaysia]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Myanmar}} [[Myanmar]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Netherlands}} [[Netherlands|The Netherlands]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| New Zealand}} [[New Zealand]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Pakistan}} [[Pakistan]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Peru}} [[Peru]] <ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.drelm.gob.pe/index.php?p=art&menu=49 | title = Calendario Cívico Escolar | publisher = Dirección Regional de Educación de Lima Metropolitana | accessdate = 2008-06-07 }}</ref><br>
 +
{{flagicon| Philippines}} [[Philippines]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Puerto Rico}} [[Puerto Rico]] <br>
 +
|valign="top" width="150px"| 
 +
{{flagicon| Slovakia}} [[Slovakia]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| South Africa}} [[South Africa]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Saint Lucia}} [[St. Lucia]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines}} [[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Sint Maarten}} [[Sint Maarten]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Singapore}} [[Singapore]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Suriname}} [[Suriname]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Switzerland}} [[Switzerland]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Trinidad and Tobago}} [[Trinidad and Tobago]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Turkey}} [[Turkey]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Ukraine}} [[Ukraine]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| United States}} [[United States]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Uruguay}} [[Uruguay]] <br>
 +
|valign="top" width="150px"| 
 +
{{flagicon| Venezuela}} [[Venezuela]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Zimbabwe}} [[Zimbabwe]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"| 
 +
[[May 15]]
 +
|
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Paraguay}} [[Paraguay]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"| 
 +
[[May 26]]
 +
|
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Poland}} [[Poland]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"| 
 +
[[May 27]]
 +
|
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Bolivia}} [[Bolivia]]
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
Last Sunday of May
 +
|valign="top"|
 +
May 25 2008 <br>
 +
May 31 2009 <br>
 +
May 30 2010 <br>
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
{{flagicon| Algeria}} [[Algeria]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Dominican Republic}} [[Dominican Republic]] <br>
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
{{flagicon| France}} [[France]] (First Sunday of June if [[Pentecost]] occurs on this day) <br>
 +
{{flagicon| France}} [[French Antilles]] (First Sunday of June if [[Pentecost]] occurs on this day) <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Haiti}} [[Haiti]] <ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.discoverhaiti.com/history_holidays.htm | publisher = discoverhaiti.com | title = Haiti: Main Holidays | accessdate = 2008-07-08 }} * {{cite web | url = http://www.haiti-reference.com/histoire/calendrier-fetes.html | title = 6310.- Fêtes et Jours Fériés en Haiti | language = french | accessdate = 2008-07-08 }} {{fr icon}}</ref><br>
 +
|valign="top"|
 +
{{flagicon| Mauritius}} [[Mauritius]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Morocco}} [[Morocco]] <br>
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Sweden}} [[Sweden]] <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Tunisia}} [[Tunisia]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
[[May 30]]
 +
|
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Nicaragua}} [[Nicaragua]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
[[June 1]]
 +
|
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Mongolia}} [[Mongolia]]† (The Mothers and Children's Day.) <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
Second Sunday of June
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
June 8 2008 <br>
 +
June 14 2009 <br>
 +
June 13 2010 <br>
 +
|  valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Luxembourg}} [[Luxembourg]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
Last Sunday of June
 +
|valign="top"|
 +
June 29 2008 <br>
 +
June 28 2009 <br>
 +
June 27 2009 <br>
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Kenya}} [[Kenya]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
[[August 12]]
 +
|
 +
|valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Thailand}} [[Thailand]] (the birthday of Queen [[Sirikit Kitiyakara]])
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
[[August 15]] ([[Assumption Day|Assumption&nbsp;Day]])
 +
|
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Antwerp}} [[Antwerp]] ([[Belgium]]) <br>
 +
{{flagicon| Costa Rica}} [[Costa Rica]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
Second Monday of October
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
October 13 2008 <br>
 +
October 12 2009 <br>
 +
October 11 2010 <br>
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Malawi}} [[Malawi]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
[[October 14]]
 +
|
 +
|  valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Belarus}} [[Belarus]]  <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"| 
 +
Third Sunday of October
 +
| valign="top"| 
 +
October 19 2008 <br>
 +
October 18 2009 <br>
 +
October 17 2010 <br>
 +
|  valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Argentina}} [[Argentina]] (''Día de la Madre'') <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"| 
 +
Last Sunday of November
 +
| valign="top"| 
 +
November 30 2008 <br>
 +
November 29 2009 <br>
 +
November 28 2010 <br>
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Russia}} [[Russia]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"| 
 +
[[December 8]]
 +
|
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Panama}} [[Panama]] <br>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"| 
 +
20 [[Jumada al-thani]]
 +
|[[June 23]] [[2008]]
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Iran}} [[Iran]] <ref name="iranpresident">{{cite web | url = http://www.president.ir/en/print.php?ArtID=10405 | title = Ahmadinejad highlights women's significant role in society | date = 2008-06-24 | publisher = Presidency of The Islamic Republic of Iran News Service | accessdate = 2008-07-19 | quote = (...) the occasion of the Mother's Day marking the birthday anniversary of [[Fatimah|Hazrat Fatemeh Zahra]] (SA), the beloved daughter of Prophet [[Mohammad]] (Peace Be Upon Him). The day fell on June 23 [2008]. }}</ref>
 +
|--
 +
| valign="top"|
 +
[[December 22]]
 +
|
 +
| valign="top" colspan="6"|
 +
{{flagicon| Indonesia}} [[Indonesia]] <br>
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
==International history and traditions==
 +
 
 +
In most countries, Mother's Day is a recent observance derived from the holiday as it has evolved in North America and Europe. Many African countries adopted the idea of one Mother's Day from the British tradition, although there are many festivals and events celebrating mothers within the many diverse cultures on the African continent that long pre-date colonization.
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=== Japan ===
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Mother's Day in Japan was initially commemorated during the [[Shōwa period]] as the birthday of [[Empress Kōjun]] (mother of [[Emperor Akihito]]). Nowadays - as in the United States - the holiday is a heavily marketed concept, and people typically give flowers such as carnations and roses as gifts.
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=== China ===
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In China, in recent years some people began to advocate for the official adoption of Mother's Day in memory of Meng Mu, the mother of [[Mencius|Mèng Zǐ]]. It remains an unofficial festival, except in a small number of cities. {{Fact|date=June 2008}}
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=== Greece ===
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Mother's Day in Greece corresponds to the [[Eastern Orthodox]] feast day of the  [[Presentation of Jesus at the Temple]]. Since the [[Theotokos]] (The Mother of God) appears prominently in this feast as the one who brought Christ to the Temple at Jerusalem, this feast is associated with mothers.  {{Fact|date=June 2008}}
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=== Iran ===
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Celebrated on 20 [[Jumada al-thani]], the birthday anniversary of [[Fatimah|Hazrat Fatemeh Zahra]] (SA), the beloved daughter of Prophet [[Mohammad]]. <ref name="iranpresident" /> It was changed after the [[Iranian revolution]], the reason having been theorized as trying to undercut feminist movements  and promoting role models for the traditional model of family. <ref>{{cite book | url = http://www.dhushara.com/book/zulu/islamp/wiff/wif.htm | title = Women in Fundamentalism | author = Shahin Gerami | year = 1996 | isbn = 0-8153-0663-6 | publisher = Garland Publishing | location = New York | quote = To this end, to counteract the Mother's Day of the previous regime, the state first moved it to December 16 [that was the date for that year?], to coincide with Fatemeh's birthday. Then it was expanded to a week with festivities, celebrations, speeches, gifts, prizes, and honors for achieving women. }} [http://books.google.com/books?id=FoF5jCEepGkC&pg=PA197&dq=%22mother%27s+day%22+iran+fatimah&lr=&client=opera&hl=es&sig=ACfU3U3yD--Xrd6MwGwScS_OHNvSf5a2Kg online version]</ref><ref>{{cite book | url = http://www.owu.edu/~aamahdi/globalization-final.doc | title = Iran Encountering Globalization: Problems and Prospects | chapter = Iranian Women: Between Islamization and Globalization  | author = Ali Akbar Mahdi | publisher = Ali Mohammadi. London and New York: Routledge/Curzon | year = 2003 | isbn = 0415308275 | quote = Other role models for women often cited by the officials and ideologues of the IRI are Khadijah, the prophet Mohammad's wife, and Zaynab, daughter of the first Shi'i Imam Ali. In fact, the IRI replaced the universal Mother's Day with Fatima Zahar's birthday. |format=DOC}}</ref> It was previously 25 [[Azar]] on Iranian calendar during the [[shah]] era {{fact|date=July 2008}}
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=== United Kingdom and Ireland ===
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{{main|Mothering Sunday}}
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In the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Ireland]], Mothering Sunday, also called "Mother's Day", falls on the fourth Sunday of [[Lent]] (exactly three weeks before [[Easter Sunday]]). It is believed to have originated from the 16th century [[Christian]] practice of visiting one's mother church annually, which meant that most mothers would be reunited with their children on this day. Most historians believe that young apprentices and young women in servitude were released by their masters that weekend in order to visit their families.<ref>{{cite news
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|url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/motheringsunday_1.shtml
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|title = Mothering Sunday |work = Religion & Ethics |publisher = [[bbc.co.uk]] |accessdate = 2006-05-28
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}}</ref>
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As a result of secularisation, it is now principally used to show appreciation to one's mother, although it is still recognised in the historical sense by some churches, with attention paid to Mary the mother of Jesus Christ as well as the traditional concept '[[Mother Church]]'.
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Mothering Sunday can fall at the earliest on [[1 March]] (in years when Easter Day falls on [[22 March]]) and at the latest on [[4 April]] (when Easter Day falls on [[25 April]]).
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=== United States ===
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{{main|Mother's Day (United States)}}
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[[Image:Mother's day gifts.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A selection of handmade Mother's Day gifts.]]
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North America celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In the [[United States]], Mother's Day was inspired by the British day and was imported by social activist [[Julia Ward Howe]] after the [[American Civil War]]. However, it was intended as a call to unite women against war. In 1870, she wrote the [[Mother's Day Proclamation]] as a call for peace and disarmament. Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace.  
  
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In 1907, at her behest, the Andrews Methodist Church of Grafton, West Virginia to hold a "Mother’s Day service," which is sometimes regarded as the "first celebration of Mother's Day," and donated five hundred carnations for the mothers in the congregation to wear. Next year, the church officially proclaimed the date to be Mother’s Day, and Grafton florists sold out of carnations.<ref name=ah>Johnson, James P. (1979), "[http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1979/3/1979_3_14.shtml How Mother Got Her Day],", ''American Heritage,'' '''30'''(1), April/May 1979: (Anna Reeves Jarvis' death on second Sunday of 1905, first "Mother's Day service" at Andrews Memorial Church of Grafton, Va, florists selling out of carnations the following year)</ref>  A 1915 book says that while planning the service,
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Her idea was influenced by [[Ann Jarvis]], a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mother's Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors.
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:there came to her a realization of the growing lack of tender consideration for absent mothers among worldly-minded, busy, grown-up children; of the thoughtless neglect of home ties and loving consideration, engendered by the whirl and pressure of modern life; of the lack of respect and deference to parents among children of the present generation; and of the need for a reminder of the loving, unselfish mother, living or dead.<ref name=rice>Rice, Susan Tracey and Robert Haven Schauffler (1915), ''Mother's Day: Its History, Origin, Celebration, Spirit, and Significance as Related in Prose and Verse.'' New York: Moffat, Yard and Company. Anna Jarvis and Philadelphia, [http://books.google.com/books?id=pkAOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA6 p. 6]; Mother's Day bill in Congress, [http://books.google.com/books?id=pkAOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA4 pp. 4-5]</ref>
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Jarvis sought to make it a national celebration. It was not smooth going at first; in 1908 the Senate poked fun at a resolution to institute Mothers' Day.<ref>The position of the apostrophe varies; older sources tend to put it after the ''s,'' modern usage puts it before the ''s.''</ref> One senator feared it would lead to special days in honor of "sisters and the cousins and the aunts,"<ref>Doubtless a reference to a song in H. M. S. Pinafore, in which the head of the Navy goes everywhere accompanied by "his sisters and his cousins and his aunts." The senator's objection is a good example of a [[slippery slope]] argument.</ref>, another moved to substitute the Fifth Commandment, and another said that if it passed the Senate should also recognize a Grandmothers' Day.<ref>Against a Mothers'[sic] Day. Senate Pokes Fun at Senator Burkett's Resolution Calling For One. ''The New York Times,'' May 10, 1908, p. 7</ref> Nevertheless, the tradition spread to other cities, and by 1910 it had been adopted by most states.<ref>"Mothers'[sic] Day" ''The Boston Daily Globe,'' May 11, 1911, p. 12: "On Sunday next Mothers' day will be celebrated for the second time in the United States.... [The suggestion of] Miss Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia that a day be set aside for throughout the country to honor mothers was quickly adopted in most states."</ref> In 1913 the House of Representatives passed a resolution calling for federal officials to wear white carnations on Mother's Day.
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[[Frank E. Hering]], President of the [[Fraternal Order of Eagles]], made the first known public plea for "a national day to honor our mothers" in 1904. <ref name="annie">{{cite web | url = http://www.annieshomepage.com/mothershistory.html | title = Annie's "Mother's Day" History Page | accessdate = 2008-06-26 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.foe.com/about-us/mothers-day.aspx |title=Fraternal Order of Eagles: The History of Mother's Day|accessdate=2008-01-26}}</ref>
  
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In 1914, a bill instituting Mother's Day was passed, and on May 8th, 1914, [[Woodrow WIlson]] signed House Joint Resolution 263, "A joint resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day, and for other purposes." WIlson issued a proclamation "calling upon the Government officials to display the United States flag on all Government buildings, and the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places on the second Sunday in May, as a public expression of love and reverence for the mothers of our country."<ref name=rice/>
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When Jarvis died in 1905, her daughter, named [[Anna Jarvis]], started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. In 1907, she passed out 500 white carnations at her mother’s church, St. Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church in [[Grafton, West Virginia]]—one for each mother in the congregation. The first Mother's Day service was celebrated on [[10 May]] [[1908]], in the same church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Anna chose Sunday to be Mother's Day because she intended the day to be commemorated and treated as a Holy Day.  
  
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Originally, the celebration was observed mostly at churches, but it soon expanded to public gatherings, somewhat on the pattern of Independence Day or Memorial Day<ref>Then called "Decorations Day"</ref>. Boston's 1923 celebration of Mother's Day honored the sacrifices of the Gold Star mothers who had lost sons in World War I. It included a parade and speeches on the Common. "M. Schalk" of the Rotary Club led the assembled crowd in singing "Mother Machree," "The Long Long Trail," and "Home Sweet Home." The chaplain of the American Legion led a prayer, followed by speeches by the Lieutenant Governor, Mayor James M. Curley, and screen actress Mary Carr, famous for her film portrayal of mothers.<ref>"Tributes to 'Mother' Paid On Common After Parade in Downtown Boston," ''The Boston Daily Globe,'' May 14, 1923, p. 18</ref>.
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Originally the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church, the site of the original Mother's Day commemoration, where Anna handed out carnations, this building is now the International Mother's Day Shrine (a [[National Historic Landmark]]). From there, the custom caught on—spreading eventually to 46 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912, beginning with West Virginia. In 8 May 1914, the U.S. Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and requesting a proclamation. <ref name="rice" /> In May 9, 1914, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] made that proclamation, declaring the first national Mother's Day, <ref name="9may">[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may09.html Today in History: May 9] Library of Congress</ref><ref name="rice" /> as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war. <ref name="rice">Rice, Susan Tracey and Robert Haven Schauffler (1915), ''Mother's Day: Its History, Origin, Celebration, Spirit, and Significance as Related in Prose and Verse.'' New York: Moffat, Yard and Company. Anna Jarvis and Philadelphia, [http://books.google.com/books?id=pkAOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA6 p. 6]; Mother's Day bill in Congress, [http://books.google.com/books?id=pkAOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA4 pp. 4-5] {{quote|in 1914 Congress passed a law, which Wilson signed on May 8, 1914, "designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day," and authorizing and requesting that Wilson issue a proclamation "calling upon the government officials to display the United States flag on all buildings, and the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places on the second Sunday in May as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country."}}</ref>  
  
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Founder Anna Jarvis continued to guide the celebration in her role as President of the Mothers' Day International Association, declaring in 1920, for example, that on that year white carnations would be dispensed with due to the high cost of the flowers. But the celebration gradually evolved into its present form: primarily an occasion for gifts, greeting cards, and telephone calls. Jarvis herself eventually became bitter at the extent to which the celebration had become commercialized.<ref name=stuff>[http://people.howstuffworks.com/question634.htm Who came up with Mother's Day and why?] HowStuffWorks website: "Jarvis became bitter over the commercialization of the holiday. She filed a lawsuit to stop a 1923 Mother's Day event and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a mother's convention where white carnations were being sold."</ref> The New York Times says that she "denounced confectioners, florists, and other groups whom she accused of gouging the public" and was angered because "too many sons bought printed cards to send to their mothers, instead of writing."<ref>"Anna Jarvis Dead; Honored Mothers; Founder in 1907 of Their Day Fought Commercialization&mdash;Penniless at Her Death." ''The New York Times, November 25, 1948, p. 31</ref>
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[[Dianthus caryophyllus|Carnation]]s have come to represent Mother's Day, since they were delivered at one of its first celebrations by its founder. <ref name="9may" /> This also started the custom of wearing a carnation on Mother's Day. <ref name="annie" /> A colored flower, usually red, indicates the person's mother is living, and a white flower that she is not. <ref name="annie" /> The founder, Anna Jarvis, gave a different meaning to the colors. She only delivered a single white carnation to every person, a symbol of the purity of a mother's love. <ref name="vancouversun" /><ref name="msnbc">{{cite news | url = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24556903/ | title = Mother's Day reaches 100th anniversary, The woman who lobbied for this day would berate you for buying a card | author = AP | work = MSNBC | date = 2008-05-11 | accessdate = 2008-07-07 }}</ref>
  
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In 1962, the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church of Grafton, West Virginia&mdash; location of the 1907 Mother's Day service&mdash;became rededicated as the International Mother's Day Shrine.<ref>[http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvtaylor/shrine.htm The International Mother's Day Shrine]</ref>
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In May 2008, the [[US House of Representatives]] voted twice on a resolution commemorating Mother's Day, <ref name="vote274" /><ref name="vote275" />, the first one being unanimous so that all congressmen would be on record showing support for Mother's Day.{{Fact|date=June 2008}}
  
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==Other "Mother's Days"==
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====Commercialization====
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[[Image:Woman and child.jpg|right|200px]]
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==="Mothering Sunday"===
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Mother's Day may be related to ''Mothering Sunday,'' celebrated in England on the fourth Sunday of Lent. The term did not originally refer to motherhood. On Mothering Sunday, English Catholics instead of attending services in the local parish church, were supposed to travel to their "Mother Church," i.e. the cathedral of the diocese. Later, it became an occasion for children to visit their parents.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/motheringsunday_1.shtml Mothering Sunday], BBC</ref> An 1854 source says the change occurred at the time of the Reformation. It mentions a couplet:
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:On ''Mothering Sunday,'' above all other
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:Every child should dine with its mother.<ref>Baker, Anne Elizabeth (1854), ''Glossary of Northamptonshire Words and Phrases," J. R. Smith, [http://books.google.com/books?id=_Fstx92Z5tcC&pg=PA33&as_brr=1#PPA33,M1 p. 33]</ref>
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An 1867 source, however, says that "the processions ceased in the thirteenth century, but the name Mothering Sunday has continued, and throughout many parts of England this title has been the cause of the Sunday being the great family gathering, when all the scattered members return home and spend the day, and bring a present to their mother." The traditional gift was a "simnel cake" made of flour colored with saffron and flavored with sugar and lemon. Even in 1867, commercialism had raised its ugly head: the source complains that "the beauty of the custom is now lost by the simnel cakes being sold in shops."<ref>''E. Littel's Living Age,'' Fourth Series, Volume VI, July, August, September 1867; Boston, Littell and Gay. [http://books.google.com/books?id=AAbzpEOb3dUC&pg=PA725&as_brr=1 p. 725]</ref>
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In recent years, the observance of Mothering Sunday has come to resemble that of Mother's Day in the U. S., and is often referred to as "Mother's Day."
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Nine years after the first official Mother's Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become and spent all her inheritance and the rest of her life fighting what she saw as an abuse of the celebration.<ref name="vancouversun" />
  
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===Julia Ward Howe's June 2nd "Mother's Day"===
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Later commercial and other exploitations of the use of Mother's Day infuriated Anna and she made her criticisms explicitly known throughout her time.<ref name="msnbc" /><ref name="vancouversun">{{cite news | url = http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=c942370c-cdbb-43b2-af59-71ad4b546854 | title = Mother's Day creator likely 'spinning in her grave' | author = Louisa Taylor, Canwest News Service | work = [[Vancouver Sun]] | date = 2008-05-11 | accessdate = 2008-07-07 }}</ref> She criticized the practice of purchasing greeting cards, which she saw as a sign of being too lazy to write a personal letter. She was arrested in 1948 for disturbing the peace while protesting against the comercialization of Mother's Day, and she finally said that she "wished she would have never started the day because it became so out of control ...".<ref name="msnbc" />  
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[[Julia Ward Howe]], author of [[Battle Hymn of the Republic]], had earlier attempted to found a "Mother's Day" to be celebrated on June 2nd. It was not a celebration of motherhood, but a call for mothers to oppose war. Her 1870 ''Appeal to Womanhood Through the World'' said, in part:
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:Arise, all women who have hearts! Whether your baptism be of water or of tears! Say firmly: "We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience...." From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!.<ref>Elliott, Maud (Howe) and Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards (1915), ''Julia Ward Howe, 1819-1910'',  Houghton Mifflin, Boston, [http://books.google.com/books?id=LHqjEYLKPfYC&pg=RA11-PA302 p. 302]</ref>
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Howe's Mother's Day was celebrated in eighteen cities in 1873, and in Boston for at least ten years; but it was dependent on Howe's personal financial sponsorship and eventually died out.<ref>[http://womenshistory.about.com/od/mothersday/a/jwh.htm Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day for Piece], about.com</ref>  
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In recent years, there have been attempts to associate Anna Jarvis' Mother's Day with Howe's antiwar message. In 1991 the Boston Globe reported that "the descendants of Julia Ward Howe are asking mothers and children across the nation today to cast aside the sappy sentiment, candy and cards that often characterize Mother's Day and to try instead to revive the day's original meaning."<ref>Gaines, Judith, "A Call to Work for Peace: Kin of Julia Ward Howe Rekindle Her Original Goal for Mother's Day,'' ''The Boston Globe,'', May 12, 1991, p. 36</ref> In fact, there appears to be a sort of myth that the modern celebration traces back to Howe's and was gradually co-opted by the forces of sentimentality: "Today's hearts-and-flowers approach to Mother's Day would have appalled its founder, famed American poet Julia Ward Howe," wrote the Springfield, Massachusetts Union-News in 2001.<ref>Carbone, Angela (2001), "Hamp sets tribute to Julia Howe; 'Battle Hymn' author founded Mother's Day." May 11, 2001, p. B04</ref>
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Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions. According to the [[National Restaurant Association]], Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States.  
  
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==Reactions to Mother's Day==
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For example, according to [[IBISWorld]], a publisher of business research, Americans will spend approximately $2.6 billion on flowers, $1.53 billion on pampering gifts—like spa treatments—and another $68 million on greeting cards.<ref>[http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/147-05082008-1530894.html Recession or not: Mom comes 1st (phillyBurbs.com) | Local Business<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
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===Curmudgeonly===
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As noted, the Senate's reaction to Jarvis's proposal was initially cool. And although Mother's Day was enthusiastically adopted by the nation, there were demurrals.  
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Scarcely had the ink dried on Wilson's proclamation when a letter signed "Justice" appeared in the New York Times complaining that "Ever since the beginning of the Mother's Day movement I have felt that an injustice has been done&mdash;unintentionally, of course&mdash;to our fathers. There are many fathers who are worthy of honor as well as mothers. Therefore, we should celebrate a day for Father's Day."<ref>"A Fathers' Day" Suggested. ''The New York Times,'' June 11, 1914, p. 10</ref> This drew an ironic reply a few days later from correspondent "More Justice," suggesting the addition of Brother's Day, Sister's Day, Grandpa's Day, Grandma's Day, Uncle's Day, Maiden Aunty's Day, Cousin's Day, Baby's Day, Household Pet Day, and "Slush Day," with suggested dates and buttonhole flowers for each.<ref>"Holidays for All: Including Grandma, Aunty, Baby, and the Household Pet." ''The New York Times,'' June 14, 1914, p. 14</ref>
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Mother's Day will generate about 7.8% of the U.S. jewelry industry's annual revenue in 2008. Americans are expected to spend close to $3.51 billion in 2008 on dining out for Mother's Day, with brunch and dinner being the most popular dining out options.<ref>[http://www.avpress.com/n/08/0508_s25.hts AV Press article]</ref>
  
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During the 1920s and 1930s, there were rallies in New York's Central Park for the cause of renaming Mother's Day to "Parents' Day." The movement, led by one Robert Spere, died out in 1940; an historian suggests that the business community killed it, because "Mother's Day followed by Father's Day was too perfect a setup financially to allow something as gender-nonspecific as Parent's Day to muck things up."<ref>LaRossa, Ralph (1997), ''The Modernization of Fatherhood: A Social and Political History,'' University of Chicago Press, [http://books.google.com/books?id=_HX0Xyq3ktEC&pg=PA26&ots=WP8VLTGdNI&sig=d4WJZS0aGMgT-zZYhpuVrZ_LyeU#PPA27,M1 p. 26]</ref>
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==See also==
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{{portalpar|Holidays}}
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* [[Father's Day]]
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* [[Mothering Sunday]]
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* [[May crowning]]
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* [[International Women's Day]]
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* [[Hallmark holiday]]
  
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In 1935 [[Will Rogers]] remarked:
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==References==
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:Mother's Day, it's a beautiful thought, but it's somebody's hurtin' conscience that thought of the idea. It was someone who had neglected their mother for years, and then they figured out: I got to do something about Momma. And knowing that Momma was that easy, they figured, "we'll give her a day, and it will be all right with Momma." Give her a day, and then in return Momma gives you the other 364. See?<ref name=quotes>Frank, Catherine, (2003) ''Quotations for All Occasions,'' Columbia University Press, [http://books.google.com/books?id=_HX0Xyq3ktEC&pg=PA25&ots=WP8VLTGdNI&sig=d4WJZS0aGMgT-zZYhpuVrZ_LyeU#PPA27,M1 p. 25]: Anna Jarvis quotation, #15, p. 25; Will Rogers, #16, p. 26</ref><ref>If Rogers was not speaking figuratively when he referred to the person who "thought up the idea," then he was being unfair to Anna Jarvis, who was devoted to her mother and stayed with her mother long into her own adulthood.</ref>
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{{reflist}}
  
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===Political and social===
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== External links ==
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Anna Jarvis' efforts to establish Mother's Day coincided with a period of activity in support of women's suffrage. An historian says that "Opponents of woman suffrage eagerly adopted Anna’s cause as their own." One Mother's Day sermon said that "The mother who spends six years with her children will know far more than the woman who neglects her duty in that way for social and political matters."
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* [http://www.mothersdayshrine.com International Mother's Day Shrine]  
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Jarvis' [[champion]] in the Senate was Alabama senator J. Thomas Heflin:
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* [http://womenshistory.about.com/od/mothersday/a/early.htm Mother's Day History]
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:Known as "Cotton Tom" because of his devotion to Alabama's leading agricultural commodity, the flamboyant Heflin built a political career as an unremitting opponent of equal rights for black Americans, women, and Roman Catholics... While firmly against giving the vote to women, Heflin believed they would be grateful for his role in establishing Mother's Day as a national holiday.<ref>[http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Cotton_Toms_Last_Blast.htm Cotton Tom's Last Blast], United States Senate website, "Historical Minutes" section</ref>
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{{US Holidays}}
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But Jarvis herself supported women's suffrage, and some of her own statements had at least a tinge of feminism:
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:Washington's Birthday is for the "Father of our Country;" Memorial Day for our "Heroic Fathers;" 4th of July for "Patriot Fathers;" Labor Day for "Laboring Fathers;" Thanksgiving day for "Pilgrim Father[s];" and even New Years Day is for "Old Father Time."<ref name=quotes/>
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In recent years, there have been rare incidents of schools deciding to discontinue Mother's Day observances on the grounds that it is an uncomfortable occasion for children living without a mother. In 2001, the Rodeph Shalom Day School in New York announced that Mother's Day and Father's Day would not be celebrated, in part because "...families in our society are now diverse and varied.... the recognition of these holidays in a social setting may not be a positive experience for all children."<ref>Goldberg, Jonah (2001), [http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTkwZjdiZGI0YTBhYzVlMDY2M2IxNGM2MGQwNGIxNmI= My School Bans Mother’s Day]. National Review Online, May 8, 2001.</ref>. A mother at the school, who supported the policy, said that (contrary to a newspaper report), it did not seem likely that the impetus for the policy had come from gay parents.<ref>"Bulletin Board, School Skips Mother's Day," ''The New York Times,'' May 9, 2001, p. B9</ref> In 2007, a primary school in Wales banned the making of Mother's Day cards in class on the grounds of sensitivity. A spokesperson for the Mothers’ Union responded that they thought the school should, instead, encourage each child "to make a card which thanks the person in their lives who does that mothering. That could be a dad, auntie, carer, foster mum or grandparent."<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=434754&in_page_id=1770 School bans Mother's Day cards]. "The move has angered parents at the 357-pupil Johnstown Primary School in Carmarthen, West Wales."</ref>
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==Notes and references==
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[[Category:Holidays in the Soviet Union]]
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<references/>
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[[Category:1908 establishments]]
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[[Category:Secular holidays]]
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[[Category:Motherhood]]
  
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[[category:holidays]]
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[[ar:عيد الأم]]
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[[bg:Ден на майката]]
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[[cs:Den matek]]
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[[da:Mors dag]]
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[[de:Muttertag]]
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[[et:Emadepäev]]
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[[es:Día de la Madre]]
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[[eo:Tago de patrinoj]]
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[[eu:Amaren Eguna]]
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[[fa:روز مادر]]
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[[fr:Fête des Mères]]
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[[gl:Día da nai]]
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[[ko:어머니날]]
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[[io:Dio di matro]]
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[[id:Hari Ibu]]
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[[it:Festa della mamma]]
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[[he:יום המשפחה]]
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[[lt:Motinos diena]]
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[[hu:Anyák napja]]
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[[ms:Hari Ibu]]
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[[nl:Moederdag]]
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[[ja:母の日]]
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[[no:Morsdag]]
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[[nn:Morsdag]]
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[[pl:Dzień Matki]]
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[[pt:Dia das Mães]]
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[[ru:День матери]]
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[[sl:Materinski dan]]
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[[fi:Äitienpäivä]]
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[[sv:Mors dag]]
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[[th:วันแม่แห่งชาติ]]
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[[tr:Anneler Günü]]
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[[uk:День матері]]
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[[wa:Fiesse des mames]]
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[[zh-yue:母親節]]
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[[zh:母亲节]]

Revision as of 12:33, November 9, 2008

This article is about several worldwide days celebrating motherhood. For information about , see .

Template:Infobox Holiday Mother's Day is a day honoring mothers, celebrated on various days in many places around the world. It complements Father's Day, the celebration honoring fathers.

History

Different countries celebrate Mother's Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins.

One school of thought claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece, which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of Greek gods. This festival was held around the Vernal Equinox around Asia Minor and eventually in Rome itself from the Ides of March (15 March) to 18 March.

The ancient Romans also had another holiday, Matronalia, that was dedicated to Juno, though mothers were usually given gifts on this day.

In addition to Mother's Day, International Women's Day is celebrated in many countries, most often on March 8th.

Spelling

In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day". [1]

“"She was specific about the location of the apostrophe; it was to be a singular possessive, for each family to honour their mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world." [1]”

~ {{{2}}}

This is also the spelling used by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson on the law making official the holiday on the U.S., by U.S. Congress on bills, [2][3] and by other U.S. President on their declarations. [4]

Common usage in English language also dictates that the ostensibly singular possessive "Mother's Day" is the preferred spelling.

Dates around the world

Mother's Day is celebrated on different days throughout the world. Examining the trends in Google searches for the term "mother's day" shows two primary results, the smaller one on the fourth Sunday in Lent (it is also called ladies day and women's day), and the larger one on the second Sunday in May.[5]

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 (compare the celebrations of Diwali in the UK and the United States).

Note: Countries that celebrate International Women's Day are marked with a cross '†'.

Occurrence Dates Country

Second Sunday of February

February 10 2008
February 8 2009
February 14 2010

Template:Country data NorwayTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Norway

February 2

Template:Country data GreeceTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Greece

Shevat 30
(Falls anywhere between January 30 and March 1)

Template:Country data IsraelTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Israel

March 3

Template:Country data GeorgiaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Georgia

March 8

Template:Country data AfghanistanTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Afghanistan
Template:Country data AlbaniaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }}Albania†
Template:Country data ArmeniaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Armenia

Template:Country data AzerbaijanTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Azerbaijan
Template:Country data BelarusTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Belarus†
Template:Country data Bosnia and HerzegovinaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Bosnia and Herzegovina

Template:Country data BulgariaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Bulgaria†
Template:Country data LaosTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Laos
Template:Country data MacedoniaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Macedonia†

Template:Country data MoldovaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Moldova
Template:Country data MontenegroTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Montenegro
Template:Country data RomaniaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Romania

Template:Country data RussiaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Russia†
Template:Country data SerbiaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Serbia

Fourth Sunday in Lent

March 2 2008
March 22 2009
March 14 2010

Template:Country data IrelandTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Ireland
Template:Country data NigeriaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Nigeria

Template:Country data United KingdomTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} United Kingdom

March 21
(vernal equinox)

Template:Country data BahrainTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Bahrain
Template:Country data EgyptTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Egypt
Template:Country data IraqTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Iraq

Template:Country data JordanTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Jordan
Template:Country data KuwaitTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Kuwait
Template:Country data OmanTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Oman

Template:Country data LebanonTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Lebanon
Template:Country data PalestineTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Palestine
Template:Country data QatarTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Qatar

Template:Country data Saudi ArabiaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Saudi Arabia
Template:Country data SudanTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Sudan
Template:Country data SyriaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Syria

Template:Country data United Arab EmiratesTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} United Arab Emirates
Template:Country data YemenTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Yemen (All Template:Country data Arab LeagueTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Arab countries in general)

March 25

Template:Country data SloveniaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Slovenia

April 7

Template:Country data ArmeniaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Armenia

April 2
(Chinese calendar)

Template:Flagicon/core{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} China†

Baisakh Amavasya (Mata Tirtha Aunsi)

Template:Country data NepalTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Nepal

First Sunday of May

May 4 2008
May 3 2009
May 2 2010

Template:Country data HungaryTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Hungary
Template:Country data LithuaniaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Lithuania*

Template:Country data PortugalTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Portugal
Template:Country data SpainTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Spain

May 8

Template:Country data AlbaniaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Albania (Parents' Day)
Template:Country data South KoreaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} South Korea (Parents' Day)

May 10

Template:Country data El SalvadorTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} El Salvador
Template:Country data GuatemalaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Guatemala

Template:Country data MexicoTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Mexico

Second Sunday of May

May 11 2008
May 10 2009
May 9 2010

Template:Country data AnguillaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Anguilla
Template:Country data ArubaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Aruba
Template:Country data AustraliaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Australia
Template:Country data AustriaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Austria
Template:Country data BahamasTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Bahamas
Template:Country data BangladeshTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Bangladesh
Template:Country data BarbadosTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Barbados
Template:Country data BelgiumTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Belgium
Template:Country data BelizeTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Belize
Template:Country data BermudaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Bermuda
Template:Country data BonaireTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Bonaire
Template:Country data BrazilTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Brazil

Template:Country data BruneiTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Brunei
Template:Country data BulgariaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Bulgaria
Template:Country data CanadaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Canada
Template:Country data ChileTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Chile
Template:Flagicon/core{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Mainland China†
Template:Country data TaiwanTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Republic of China (Taiwan)
Template:Country data ColombiaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Colombia
Template:Country data CroatiaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Croatia
Template:Country data CubaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Cuba [6]
Template:Country data CuraçaoTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Curaçao
Template:Country data CyprusTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Cyprus
Template:Country data Czech RepublicTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Czech Republic

Template:Country data DenmarkTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Denmark
Template:Country data EcuadorTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Ecuador
Template:Country data EstoniaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Estonia
Template:Country data FinlandTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Finland
Template:Country data GermanyTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Germany
Template:Country data GhanaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Ghana
Template:Country data GreeceTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Greece
Template:Country data GrenadaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Grenada
Template:Country data HondurasTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Honduras
Template:Country data Hong KongTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Hong Kong
Template:Country data IcelandTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Iceland
Template:Flagicon/core{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} India
Template:Country data ItalyTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Italy†

Template:Country data JamaicaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Jamaica
Template:Flagicon/core{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Japan
Template:Country data LatviaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Latvia*
Template:Country data MaltaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Malta
Template:Country data MalaysiaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Malaysia
Template:Country data MyanmarTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Myanmar
Template:Country data NetherlandsTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} The Netherlands
Template:Country data New ZealandTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} New Zealand
Template:Country data PakistanTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Pakistan
Template:Country data PeruTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Peru [7]
Template:Country data PhilippinesTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Philippines
Template:Country data Puerto RicoTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Puerto Rico

Template:Country data SlovakiaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Slovakia
Template:Country data South AfricaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} South Africa
Template:Country data Saint LuciaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} St. Lucia
Template:Country data Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Template:Country data Sint MaartenTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Sint Maarten
Template:Country data SingaporeTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Singapore
Template:Country data SurinameTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Suriname
Template:Country data SwitzerlandTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Switzerland
Template:Country data Trinidad and TobagoTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Trinidad and Tobago
Template:Country data TurkeyTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Turkey
Template:Country data UkraineTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Ukraine
Template:Flagicon/core{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} United States
Template:Country data UruguayTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Uruguay

Template:Country data VenezuelaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Venezuela
Template:Country data ZimbabweTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Zimbabwe

May 15

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May 26

Template:Country data PolandTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Poland

May 27

Template:Country data BoliviaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Bolivia

Last Sunday of May

May 25 2008
May 31 2009
May 30 2010

Template:Country data AlgeriaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Algeria
Template:Country data Dominican RepublicTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Dominican Republic

Template:Country data FranceTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} France (First Sunday of June if Pentecost occurs on this day)
Template:Country data FranceTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} French Antilles (First Sunday of June if Pentecost occurs on this day)
Template:Country data HaitiTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Haiti [8]

Template:Country data MauritiusTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Mauritius
Template:Country data MoroccoTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Morocco

Template:Country data SwedenTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Sweden
Template:Country data TunisiaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Tunisia

May 30

Template:Country data NicaraguaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Nicaragua

June 1

Template:Country data MongoliaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Mongolia† (The Mothers and Children's Day.)

Second Sunday of June

June 8 2008
June 14 2009
June 13 2010

Template:Country data LuxembourgTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Luxembourg

Last Sunday of June

June 29 2008
June 28 2009
June 27 2009

Template:Country data KenyaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Kenya

August 12

Template:Country data ThailandTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Thailand (the birthday of Queen Sirikit Kitiyakara)

August 15 (Assumption Day)

Template:Country data AntwerpTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Antwerp (Belgium)
Template:Country data Costa RicaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Costa Rica

Second Monday of October

October 13 2008
October 12 2009
October 11 2010

Template:Country data MalawiTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Malawi

October 14

Template:Country data BelarusTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Belarus

Third Sunday of October

October 19 2008
October 18 2009
October 17 2010

Template:Country data ArgentinaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Argentina (Día de la Madre)

Last Sunday of November

November 30 2008
November 29 2009
November 28 2010

Template:Country data RussiaTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Russia

December 8

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20 Jumada al-thani

June 23 2008

Template:Country data IranTemplate:Namespace detect showall{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Iran [9]

December 22

Template:Flagicon/core{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Flagicon with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | noredlink | size | variant }} Indonesia

International history and traditions

In most countries, Mother's Day is a recent observance derived from the holiday as it has evolved in North America and Europe. Many African countries adopted the idea of one Mother's Day from the British tradition, although there are many festivals and events celebrating mothers within the many diverse cultures on the African continent that long pre-date colonization.

Japan

Mother's Day in Japan was initially commemorated during the Shōwa period as the birthday of Empress Kōjun (mother of Emperor Akihito). Nowadays - as in the United States - the holiday is a heavily marketed concept, and people typically give flowers such as carnations and roses as gifts.

China

In China, in recent years some people began to advocate for the official adoption of Mother's Day in memory of Meng Mu, the mother of Mèng Zǐ. It remains an unofficial festival, except in a small number of cities.[Citation Needed]

Greece

Mother's Day in Greece corresponds to the Eastern Orthodox feast day of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Since the Theotokos (The Mother of God) appears prominently in this feast as the one who brought Christ to the Temple at Jerusalem, this feast is associated with mothers.[Citation Needed]

Iran

Celebrated on 20 Jumada al-thani, the birthday anniversary of Hazrat Fatemeh Zahra (SA), the beloved daughter of Prophet Mohammad. [9] It was changed after the Iranian revolution, the reason having been theorized as trying to undercut feminist movements and promoting role models for the traditional model of family. [10][11] It was previously 25 Azar on Iranian calendar during the shah era[Citation Needed]

United Kingdom and Ireland

For a more detailed treatment, see Mothering Sunday.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Mothering Sunday, also called "Mother's Day", falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent (exactly three weeks before Easter Sunday). It is believed to have originated from the 16th century Christian practice of visiting one's mother church annually, which meant that most mothers would be reunited with their children on this day. Most historians believe that young apprentices and young women in servitude were released by their masters that weekend in order to visit their families.[12] As a result of secularisation, it is now principally used to show appreciation to one's mother, although it is still recognised in the historical sense by some churches, with attention paid to Mary the mother of Jesus Christ as well as the traditional concept 'Mother Church'.

Mothering Sunday can fall at the earliest on 1 March (in years when Easter Day falls on 22 March) and at the latest on 4 April (when Easter Day falls on 25 April).

United States

For a more detailed treatment, see Mother's Day (United States).

File:Mother's day gifts.jpg
A selection of handmade Mother's Day gifts.

North America celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In the United States, Mother's Day was inspired by the British day and was imported by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War. However, it was intended as a call to unite women against war. In 1870, she wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation as a call for peace and disarmament. Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace.

Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mother's Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors.

Frank E. Hering, President of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, made the first known public plea for "a national day to honor our mothers" in 1904. [13][14]

When Jarvis died in 1905, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. In 1907, she passed out 500 white carnations at her mother’s church, St. Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia—one for each mother in the congregation. The first Mother's Day service was celebrated on 10 May 1908, in the same church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Anna chose Sunday to be Mother's Day because she intended the day to be commemorated and treated as a Holy Day.

Originally the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church, the site of the original Mother's Day commemoration, where Anna handed out carnations, this building is now the International Mother's Day Shrine (a National Historic Landmark). From there, the custom caught on—spreading eventually to 46 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912, beginning with West Virginia. In 8 May 1914, the U.S. Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and requesting a proclamation. [15] In May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made that proclamation, declaring the first national Mother's Day, [16][15] as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war. [15]

Carnations have come to represent Mother's Day, since they were delivered at one of its first celebrations by its founder. [16] This also started the custom of wearing a carnation on Mother's Day. [13] A colored flower, usually red, indicates the person's mother is living, and a white flower that she is not. [13] The founder, Anna Jarvis, gave a different meaning to the colors. She only delivered a single white carnation to every person, a symbol of the purity of a mother's love. [1][17]

In May 2008, the US House of Representatives voted twice on a resolution commemorating Mother's Day, [2][3], the first one being unanimous so that all congressmen would be on record showing support for Mother's Day.[Citation Needed]

Commercialization

Nine years after the first official Mother's Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become and spent all her inheritance and the rest of her life fighting what she saw as an abuse of the celebration.[1]

Later commercial and other exploitations of the use of Mother's Day infuriated Anna and she made her criticisms explicitly known throughout her time.[17][1] She criticized the practice of purchasing greeting cards, which she saw as a sign of being too lazy to write a personal letter. She was arrested in 1948 for disturbing the peace while protesting against the comercialization of Mother's Day, and she finally said that she "wished she would have never started the day because it became so out of control ...".[17]

Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States.

For example, according to IBISWorld, a publisher of business research, Americans will spend approximately $2.6 billion on flowers, $1.53 billion on pampering gifts—like spa treatments—and another $68 million on greeting cards.[18]

Mother's Day will generate about 7.8% of the U.S. jewelry industry's annual revenue in 2008. Americans are expected to spend close to $3.51 billion in 2008 on dining out for Mother's Day, with brunch and dinner being the most popular dining out options.[19]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Louisa Taylor, Canwest News Service. "Mother's Day creator likely 'spinning in her grave'", Vancouver Sun, 2008-05-11. Retrieved on 2008-07-07. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 House Vote #274 (May 7, 2008) H. Res. 1113: Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day (Vote On Passage)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 House Vote #275 (May 7, 2008) Table Motion to Reconsider: H RES 1113 Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother’s Day
  4. ↑ Presidential proclamations from The American Presidency Project:
  5. ↑ mothers day (sic). Google Trends. Google. Retrieved on 28 May 2006.
  6. ↑ Principales efemérides. Mes Mayo. Unión de Periodistas de Cuba. Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
  7. ↑ Calendario Cívico Escolar. Dirección Regional de Educación de Lima Metropolitana. Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
  8. ↑ Haiti: Main Holidays. discoverhaiti.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-08. * 6310.- Fêtes et Jours Fériés en Haiti (french). Retrieved on 2008-07-08. Template:Fr icon
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ahmadinejad highlights women's significant role in society. Presidency of The Islamic Republic of Iran News Service (2008-06-24). Retrieved on 2008-07-19. “(...) the occasion of the Mother's Day marking the birthday anniversary of Hazrat Fatemeh Zahra (SA), the beloved daughter of Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him). The day fell on June 23 [2008].”
  10. ↑ Shahin Gerami (1996). Women in Fundamentalism. New York: Garland Publishing. ISBN 0-8153-0663-6. “To this end, to counteract the Mother's Day of the previous regime, the state first moved it to December 16 [that was the date for that year?], to coincide with Fatemeh's birthday. Then it was expanded to a week with festivities, celebrations, speeches, gifts, prizes, and honors for achieving women.”  online version
  11. ↑ Ali Akbar Mahdi (2003). "Iranian Women: Between Islamization and Globalization", Iran Encountering Globalization: Problems and Prospects (DOC), Ali Mohammadi. London and New York: Routledge/Curzon. ISBN 0415308275. “Other role models for women often cited by the officials and ideologues of the IRI are Khadijah, the prophet Mohammad's wife, and Zaynab, daughter of the first Shi'i Imam Ali. In fact, the IRI replaced the universal Mother's Day with Fatima Zahar's birthday.” 
  12. ↑ "Mothering Sunday", Religion & Ethics, bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 2006-05-28. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Annie's "Mother's Day" History Page. Retrieved on 2008-06-26.
  14. ↑ Fraternal Order of Eagles: The History of Mother's Day. Retrieved on 2008-01-26.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Rice, Susan Tracey and Robert Haven Schauffler (1915), Mother's Day: Its History, Origin, Celebration, Spirit, and Significance as Related in Prose and Verse. New York: Moffat, Yard and Company. Anna Jarvis and Philadelphia, p. 6; Mother's Day bill in Congress, pp. 4-5 “in 1914 Congress passed a law, which Wilson signed on May 8, 1914, "designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day," and authorizing and requesting that Wilson issue a proclamation "calling upon the government officials to display the United States flag on all buildings, and the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places on the second Sunday in May as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country."”
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  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Today in History: May 9 Library of Congress
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 AP. "Mother's Day reaches 100th anniversary, The woman who lobbied for this day would berate you for buying a card", MSNBC, 2008-05-11. Retrieved on 2008-07-07. 
  18. ↑ Recession or not: Mom comes 1st (phillyBurbs.com) | Local Business
  19. ↑ AV Press article

External links

Template:US Holidaysar:عيد الأم bg:Ден на майката cs:Den matek da:Mors dag de:Muttertag et:Emadepäev es:Día de la Madre eo:Tago de patrinoj eu:Amaren Eguna fa:روز مادر fr:Fête des Mères gl:Día da nai ko:어머니날 io:Dio di matro id:Hari Ibu it:Festa della mamma he:יום המשפחה lt:Motinos diena hu:Anyák napja ms:Hari Ibu nl:Moederdag ja:母の日 no:Morsdag nn:Morsdag pl:Dzień Matki pt:Dia das Mães ru:День матери sl:Materinski dan fi:Äitienpäivä sv:Mors dag th:วันแม่แห่งชาติ tr:Anneler Günü uk:День матері wa:Fiesse des mames zh-yue:母親節 zh:母亲节

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