June 6 – National Day of Sweden

nPostednon June 6, 2016

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nSweden’snnational day harkens back to the election of King Gustav Vasa,nwaaaaayyyy back in 1523, because that is considered the beginning ofnmodern Sweden.

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nHowever,nthis holiday wasn’t celebrated all those centuries. Celebrating Junen6 only began in 1916, and it was then called “Swedish Flag Day.”nIt’s only been since 1983 that it has been considered the “nationalnday.”

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nSpeakingnof Sweden’s flag, it is a Scandinavian cross of gold on a field ofnblue:

nIfnyou don’t know why it’s called a “Scandinavian cross,” check outnall the flags of Scandinavia:

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nWhatndo you think of when you hear the name “Sweden”?

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nWhennI was a kid, I thought of food, because we used to go out to eat at anSwedish smorgasbord (a buffet-type restaurant), and two of mynfavorite party foods were Swedish meatballs and Swedish snowball cookies.

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A lot of Swedish people have blond hair.

nNownthat I’m an adult, I tend to think of blond people (about 80% of thenpopulation has fair hair!), St. Lucia Day in the winter andnthe midnight sun in the summer, the Sami people who live in the Arctic regions,n and really good social services for all citizens. I think of ansociety that is modern, ecological, economically strong, andnegalitarian (which means that equality, including gender equality, isnvery important there).

nAnd of course I think of Ikea.

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nHerenare some other things of interest in Sweden:

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ThenVasa museum displays a battle ship that sank on it maiden voyage inn1628. This ship lay below icy waters for more than 300 years but inn1961 was brought up to the surface for all to enjoy as a kind of timencapsule.

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