Dominion Day was a day commemorating the granting of certain countries

Dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...

status — that is, "autonomous Communities within the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

, and freely associated as members of the British

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

. It was an official

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history, ...

in Canada from 1879 to 1982, where it was celebrated on 1 July; that date is now known as

Canada Day Canada Day (french: Fête du Canada), formerly known as Dominion Day (french: Fête du Dominion), is the national day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 18 ...

. In the

Dominion of New Zealand The Dominion of New Zealand was the historical successor to the Colony of New Zealand. It was a constitutional monarchy with a high level of self-government within the British Empire. New Zealand became a separate British Crown colony in 184 ...

, the anniversary of the granting of Dominion status, on 26 September, was observed as Dominion Day; it was never a public holiday.

Canada

Dominion Day (french: Fête du Dominion) was the name of the holiday commemorating the formation of Canada as a Dominion on 1 July 1867. It became an official

in 1879. Some Canadians were, by the early 1980s, informally referring to the holiday as "

". Proponents argued that the name "Dominion Day" was a holdover from the British colonial era. The holiday was formally renamed to Canada Day in 1982 (via private member's bill by MP

Hal Herbert Harold Thomas Herbert (June 17, 1922 – July 25, 2003) was a British-born Canadian politician. He introduced the Private Member's Bill in 1982 which amended the ''Holidays Act'' to change the name of Canada's national holiday from " Domi ...

to amend the Holidays Act), the year the

Constitution of Canada The Constitution of Canada (french: Constitution du Canada) is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents a ...

was patriated with the passing of the '' Canada Act'' by the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

. Nonetheless, efforts to resurrect the original holiday name persisted for years, including a "Bring Back Our Dominion Day" campaign launched in the pages of a national newspaper.

New Zealand

A Dominion Day was occasionally celebrated in New Zealand to commemorate the anniversary of New Zealand becoming a Dominion on 26 September 1907. It was never a

, although the first Dominion Day was a day off for public servants. The first Dominion Day was celebrated with a parade and other festivities in the capital,

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. Electric lights decorated Parliament Buildings, spelling out the words "Advance New Zealand". In late morning, the Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward read the proclamation from the main steps of Parliament Buildings. Outside of the capital, there were popular military parades in cities such as Auckland. Other places "declined the government’s invitation to be enthusiastic". Dominion Day soon "faded away as a public event" – there were occasional celebrations in the first few years after 1907, mostly in Wellington, but they were mainly formal events that did not capture the attention of the public. There was no strong emotional attachment to the anniversary, because New Zealand's granting of Dominion status passed largely unnoticed as a symbolic change. In 1907, the ''

Otago Daily Times The ''Otago Daily Times'' (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a c ...

'' called the day "a finger-post in the history of this land, but it is no land-mark". New Zealand historian Keith Sinclair later remarked: "… the change of title, for which there had been no demand, produced little public interest. It was largely regarded as

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

's personal show … it was merely cosmetic". Today, the

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

(South) anniversary day celebration is the fourth Monday in September, corresponding to Dominion Day; the holiday is otherwise unobserved in the rest of the country. There has been support in some quarters for the day to be revived as an alternative New Zealand Day, instead of renaming

Waitangi Day Waitangi Day ( mi, Te Rā o Waitangi), the national day of New Zealand, marks the anniversary of the initial signing – on 6 February 1840 – of the Treaty of Waitangi, which is regarded as the founding document of the nation. The first Wait ...

, New Zealand's current national day.

References

Notes

{{Reflist, group=n Public holidays in Canada July observances September observances Types of national holidays History of the Commonwealth of Nations