It’s National Day in Sweden

Here is Google Sweden’s Logo-

Click the logo for more information about the holiday.

Happy Independence Day!

Today in 1776, the United States declared its independence from Great Britain.

From Wikipedia-

In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Congress approved the wording of the Declaration on July 4 and then sent it to the printer. Whether John Hancock, as the elected President of the Second Continental Congress, or anyone else signed the document that day is unknown, because that document has been lost — presumably destroyed in the printing process.^[1] Hancock’s name and that of a witness do appear on the typeset broadside that was published within a few days. On August 2 in the following month, an engrossed document in script form^[2] was signed by Hancock and other delegates.

Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, picnics, baseball games, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States, but is often also viewed as simply a summer festival, apart from its patriotic overtones.

This is also from Wikipedia- a picture of fireworks in Miami-

Today is the National Holiday of Sweden

National Day of Sweden, or Swedish Flag Day (Sveriges nationaldag or svenska flaggans dag) is observed in Sweden on June 6 every year. The day was made into a national day by the Riksdag (Swedish parliament) in 1983, before which it was just honored as “the Swedish flag day“.

From Wikipedia

Click picture to amplify the picture of a Swedish flag being flown on a home.

Here is Google Sweden’s logo for the day-

It’s Independence Day in Israel (Yom Ha’atzmaut)

From Wikipedia-

Yom Ha’atzmaut (Hebrew: יום העצמאות‎ yom hā-‘aṣmā’ūṯ), is the national Israeli independence day, commemorating the declaration of independence of Israel in 1948.

It falls on the 5th of the Jewish lunar month Iyar, celebrating the declaration of the state of Israel by David Ben-Gurion in Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948 (5 Iyar, 5708), and the end of the British Mandate of Palestine.

It is always preceded by Yom Hazikaron, the Israel fallen soldiers Remembrance Day on the 4th of Iyar (pronounced “eeyahr”).

An official ceremony is held every year on Mount Herzl on the evening of Yom Ha’atzmaut. The ceremony includes a speech by the speaker of the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament), a dramatic presentation, a ritual march of soldiers carrying the Flag of Israel, forming elaborate structures (such as a Menorah, Magen David and a number which represents the age of Israel) and the lighting of twelve torches (one for each of the Tribes of Israel). Every year a dozen Israeli citizens, who made a significant contribution in a selected area, are invited to light the torches.

Google Israel has this image:

It’s Children’s Day in Japan and South Korea

Wikipedia’s entry about Japan’s Children’s Day

May 05 is Children’s Day, called こどもの日 (“Kodomo no hi”, こどもの日^?) in Japanese; the festivities used to be called Boy’s Day , called 端午の節句 (Tango no Sekku, 端午の節句^?) in Japanese , to distinguish it from Girls’ Day, called 桃の節句 (Momo no Sekku, 桃の節句^?), ひな祭り (Hinamatsuri, ひな祭り^?) in Japanese , March 3). Both of these days are marked with a lot of activities for children. On this day, children display samurai swords, armor, and Kintarō dolls. Two important symbols of Children’s day are carps and irises. Traditionally, families fly carp kites with a carp representing each son.

Here is Google Japan’s logo-

Queen’s Day in the Netherlands

Today is Queen’s Day in the Netherlands.

Here is a little info from Wikipedia:

Queen’s Day (Dutch: Koninginnedag) is a celebration in the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba on April 30 (or April 29th if the 30th is a Sunday). Originally a celebration of the queen’s birthday, it is now mainly known for the ‘vrijmarkt’ (literally ‘freemarket’), the one day in the year that anyone is allowed to sell anything in the streets and ‘koninginnenacht’ (Queen’s Night) on the preceding night. It is also a Dutch holiday.

Google Netherlands has this image:

It’s ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand

Anzac Day is commemorated by Australia and New Zealand on 25 April every year to remember members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who landed at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. Anzac Day is also a public holiday in the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZAC_Day 

Google Australia and New Zealand’s image:

Girl’s Day in Germany

It’s Girl’s Day in Germany today, and Google Deutschland

has this image-

More information on Girl’s Day

Children’s Day in Turkey, and St. George’s Day in the UK

Here are Google Turkey’s and Google UK’s icons for the day-

Turkey’s Children’s Day

 

UK’s St. George’s Day

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Google

And here is their logo for today-