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Globally, Father’s Day has been embraced as a unique day to acknowledge the vital role of fathers and father figures in families and communities as well as the paternal contributions and influence that fathers have on their children.
The day is marked on the third Sunday of the month of June across the world, with this year’s Father’s Day falling on June 15.
It is characterised by acts of gratitude and gifting to fathers and father figures with heartwarming messages of appreciation accompanying the celebrations.
Life experience & speech that birthed Father’s Day
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Unknown to many, Father’s Day as we know it today traces its origin to a woman who warmed up to the idea of having a day set aside to honour and celebrate incredible fathers and father figures after listening to a Mother’s Day sermon.
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Sonora Louise Smart who lived in Washington, U.S.A is largely credited with the day set aside to celebrate remarkable fathers and father figures who raise the present and the next generation.
Sonora who was raised by her father following the death of her mother birthed the idea after listening to a Mother’s Day speech and wanted to honour her father William Jackson Smart.
The 27-year-old believed that both fathers and mothers have an irreplaceable impact and should both be celebrated, borrowing from the experience of her father who raised five children after the death of his wife who passed on during childbirth.
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She proposed that the day be marked on June 5 which was also her father’s birthday, but this proposal was declined.
The clergy who would be at the centre of it all wanted more time in between Mother’s Day that is marked in May and the day set aside to celebrate fathers to prepare a sermon for the day.
They eventually settled on the third Sunday of the month of June.
First celebration of Father's Day
Sonora discussed the idea with the clergy at her church who embraced the idea and a year later, the first unofficial Father's Day was marked on 19 June 1910 in Spokane, Washington.
The idea gained traction and spread beyond the borders of her community and in 1966, U.S President Lyndon B. Johnson declared that the third Sunday in June should be Father's Day with President Richard Nixon signing it into law six year later.
Global celebrations & various dates
Although the U.S. played a key role in giving Father’s Day prominence, different countries have their own unique customs and traditions to mark the day with the date varying.
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Bolivia for example celebrates Father's Day on 19th March, which coincides with Saint Joseph's Day while Haiti marks it on the last Sunday of the month of June.
While most countries mark the day on the third Sunday of the month of June, it is not a public holiday in all of them.