Dominion Day was a day commemorating the granting of certain countries

Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

status — that is, "autonomous Communities within the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

, 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 a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

, and freely associated as members of the

British Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire from which i ...

". It was an official

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, federal holiday, statutory holiday, bank holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Types Civic holiday A ''civic holiday'', also k ...

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

Canada Day Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day, is the national day of Canada. A Public holidays in Canada, federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867, with the passing of the B ...

. 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 1841 ...

, 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 () 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 to amend the ''Holidays Act''), the year the

Constitution of Canada The Constitution of 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 are an amalgamation of various ...

was

patriated Patriation is the political process that led to full Canadian sovereignty, culminating with the ''Constitution Act, 1982''. The process was necessary because, at the time, under the ''Statute of Westminster, 1931'', and with Canada's agreement, ...

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

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

. 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 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. 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 ...

'' 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, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

(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 (, the national day of New Zealand, marks the anniversary of the initial signing—on 6 February 1840—of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty of Waitangi was an agreement towards British sovereignty by representatives of the The Cr ...

, 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