Traditions also differ for Father’s Day celebrations. For example, Catholic European countries began observing Father’s Day on March 19, 1508, linking it to the Feast of St. Joseph, which celebrates Joseph of Nazareth, father of Jesus. Father’s Day is commonly celebrated in Germany by men loading wagons with beer and heading off into the woods. In Russia, Father’s Day overlaps with their Defender of the Fatherland Day. So, while fathers are honored, many march in military parades in their hometowns on the same day. Read on to learn more about Father’s Day in the U.S. and see when Father’s Day falls in other countries.
History of Father’s Day in the United States
Father’s Day was first celebrated in the U.S. on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington, after a woman campaigned hard to have an official equivalent to Mother’s Day for male parents. Her father, William Jackson Smart, had been a Civil War veteran who raised six children on his own. Her idea was inspired by a West Virginia woman who had successfully established Mother’s Day in 1908. The holiday’s establishment met with resistance over the years, primarily due to the commercialism of holidays. In the 1920s and 1930s, a movement arose to combine Mother’s Day and Father’s Day to form Parent’s Day. The attempt failed, and commercialism won out. It was around the Great Depression that struggling retailers and advertisers needed a boost to save their businesses. Father’s Day was promoted as a “second Christmas for men,” and sales increased for neckties, hats, socks, sporting goods, and more. By World War II, Father’s Day was billed to honor American troops and support the war effort. Father’s Day remains big business in the U.S. According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent about $20.1 billion in 2021 for Father’s Day.
How Many Countries Celebrate Father’s Day?
Every country honors fathers in their own way. Fifty-two countries in the world share Father’s Day on the same day as the U.S.
United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom
The date varies in these countries, but it always falls on the third Sunday in June.
2022: June 192023: June 182024: June 16
Austria and Belgium
These two countries are aligned with each other (but not many others) on when to celebrate Father’s Day.
2022: June 122023: June 112024: June 9
New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand
These nations all celebrate Father’s Day on the first Sunday of September.
2022: September 42023: September 32024: September 1
Samoa and Brazil
August is the month to honor dads in these two countries.
2022: August 142023: August 132024: August 11
Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden
Much of Scandinavia celebrates Father’s Day on the second Sunday in November.
2022: November 132023: November 122024: November 10
Countries Where Father’s Day is Celebrated Annually on March 19
These seven countries all share a March tradition of when to celebrate Father’s Day:
AndoraBoliviaHondurasItalyLiechtensteinPortugalSpain
Other Countries’ Father’s Day Dates
Each of these countries has picked its own date to celebrate Father’s Day. Some are calendar-based and some are on the same date each year.
Germany: 39 days after EasterRomania: second Sunday in MayRussia: Feb. 23 each yearEgypt: June 21 each yearEl Salvador: June 17 each yearGuatemala: June 17 each yearHaiti: last Sunday in JuneJordan: June 21 each yearLebanon: June 21 each yearLithuania: first Sunday in JuneNicaragua: June 23 each yearPoland: June 23 each yearSyria: June 21 each yearUganda: June 21 each yearDominican Republic: last Sunday in July
