Do you ever wonder what are national days? This guide to these special days is your go-to page for all the cool facts about zany, fun and food national days.

Are you aware that every day of the year has many national days associated with it? Here at Always the Holidays, we love to celebrate all of the national days with crafts, recipes and fun activities.

Our site grows every week, as we write about more national days, holiday content, recipes and round ups. Be sure to check back often to see what’s new.

Keep reading to find out more about the national days of the year, and how to celebrate them.

The site is loaded with trivia, fun facts and more about so many activities to celebrate. From mythology to music, games and more, there is a national day for everything!

We have a list of national days for each month of the year as well as puzzles to print out and even a food national day page. Always the Holidays is the place for you to find out about national holidays, observances, and commemorative days.

We are constantly looking for new and exciting ways to help keep you up to date on the latest celebrations. If your question is “what is the national day today,” we have the answer.

What are national days?

A national day is a day of the year which is celebrated by nations and countries around the world in a special way.

Traditionally, the words “national days” were used to celebrate days when a country became independent, but in modern times, we often use the word for trending and popular topics.

Many of the food national days are celebrated with food and drink, but other national days are observed in many different ways.

There are hundreds of popular national days celebrated in the USA and around the world. We celebrate national days for many reasons.

Some tie in closely with popular national holidays, such as Halloween or Christmas, some are steeped in religion, and others tie in with the weather or with the outdoors.

There are so many popular days out there, that it’s next to impossible for a single site to list them all. However, we aim to try to be as complete as possible.

Here at Always the Holidays, we fill our national day lists with a wide variety of national days, including but not limited to food, drinks, nature, decor, fun facts, trivia and history!

If there’s a national day we’ve missed, you might see it included in our puzzle printables, and national days lists. Please contact us about missing days! We love national days, and want to make sure our lists are as complete as possible.

Are national days official?

Both holidays and national days can be either official or unofficial. In order for it to be an official day, it must be sanctioned by the government.

Many of the national days are unofficial – i.e. a person or a company came up with the day it and it just took off with other people who have the same interests.

There is even a day (March 26) called Make Up Your Own Holiday Day. This day is for people to think up of a thing, person, animal, drink, or food and create a holiday to celebrate it with their friends.

Are national days real?

The United States only recognizes less than a dozen days as national holidays and these include the 4th of July and Christmas. What about all the others?

How did all of these seemingly random national days arise?

Once the idea of national days came to people’s attention, local business, marketers and aficionados of activities started promoting different days for all sorts of reasons.

Sometimes it was to sell products, or call awareness to a certain social cause. Other times, in the case of a food national day, the intent was to bring customers to restaurants on a slow day.

Soon after, hashtags were created and the national day began. So, as to the question “are national days real,” the answer is a bit like the line from the editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church called “Is there a Santa Claus?”

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.

So, who are we to wonder if, for instance, National Puzzle Day is real? To the countless thousands who love and enjoy them each day, this day brings joy to their hearts and gives them something to celebrate.

National day hashtags

Many times national days become popular because they are celebrated on social media with special national day hashtags. #nationalday #internationalday are two commonly used hashtags.

In addition to these, each national day also has its own hashtag. When you are sharing information on social media about a particular day, you could use one of these social media hashtags (and so many more).

Our favorite hashtags for national days of the year

We enjoy sharing our national days post with our readers on Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter. Here are a few of our favorite national day hashtags.

#NationalPetDay – National Pet Day is on April 11 but there are many other days that celebrate our pets when you could use this animal hashtag, such as National Black Cat Day, Cuddly Kitten Day, National Ferret Day, and National Rescue Dog Day.
#NationalGardeningDays – Use this nature hashtag for Rose Day, National Orchid Day and National Carnation Day, Houseplant Appreciation Day as well as many others.
#NationalElectronics – Color TV Day, National VCR Day and National Landline Telephone Day all all the perfect days for this hashtag.

Food and drink hashtags are especially popular with our readers and the possibilities are endless. Why not try using one of these food hashtags:

#NationalCocktailDays – Use this drink hashtag for National Vodka Day, National Martini Day or National Pina Colada Day.
#NationalChocolateDays – Great days to use this hashtag are National Bittersweet Chocolate Day, Chocolate Mint Day and Chocolate Covered Cashews Day.
#NationalFoodDays – National Cherry Pie Day, National Peach Cobbler Day and Bake Cookies Day fit right in with this food hashtag.

What is a national day that you particularly love to celebrate? Does one of our favorite national day hashtags fit it?

Share this guide about national days on Twitter

Be sure to share our page with your friends too! Here is a tweet to get you started:

There are almost 2000 National Days of the year. Come celebrate them with us at Always The Holidays! #nationaldays #internationalday Click To Tweet

Just for the foodies – food and drink national days!

Speaking of foodies, I have some special national day lists that are made just for those who love to eat, drink and cook.

Each month has its own list of food national days and each month celebrates different food holidays. Here are some other food national day lists that feature only food holidays so that you can celebrate the day with your favorite recipes:

January food holidays – Ring in the new year with special food days.
February holidays for foodies – It’s not just about Valentine’s Day!
March national food days – Bring it in like a lion and out like a lamb with these food days.
List of food days in April – Grilled cheese, cherry cheesecake, pecans and more.
May national food holidays – There are so many special days in May, Mother’s Day is just one of them – and there are so many more!
List of food holidays in June – Ice cream, pralines, strawberries and More!
List of national food days in July – Celebrate the 4th of July with sundaes, recipes and cocktails!
August national food days – Celebrating the last full month of summer with food and drink.
September national food days – Let’s honor fall with food and drink.
October food holidays – List of national food holidays this month.
Food holidays in November – There’s so much more than turkey to celebrate this month!
December food holidays – List of the food days in December.

How many national days are there?

More and more companies and websites are now allowing people to submit ideas for new national days. We’ve mentioned a lot of them already and readers regularly ask “what national day is today?”

It may surprise you to know that there are close to 2000 national days each year. The number is always increasing because new national days pop up often.

If you take the list of international days and world national days into account, the number is even higher. That means that there are always days to celebrate.

With so many national days to consider, that is why our motto is “there is always a holiday.”

Monthly national day lists

After the question “what national day is today,” the next most common question is “what are the national days in January”? (or February, March, and so on.)

To answer this and all other questions about national celebrations, we have a page for each month of the year dedicated to the national days that month.

Each list of national days of the month is a place to learn about all the national days this month and every other. Check out these pages here:

National days of January – Get the monthly list here to start the year off right with your resolutions.
National days in February – See why It’s not just Valentine’s Day this month! We also celebrate Get Out Your Guitar Day, Clean Out Your Bookcase Day and other unusual national days.
March national days – Find out about St. Patrick’s Day, Puppy Day and so much more.
List of national days in April – National Garden Month, National Beer Day, Zoo Lovers Day and Earth Day are all great reasons to celebrate.
List of national days of May – Memorial Day, Mother’s Day and many more memorable days come in May.
National days of June – Father’s Day, Flip Flop Day, National Rotisserie Chicken Day, and the great outdoors are featured this month!
National days of July – From Independence Day, to Hot Dog Day, National Grilling Month and more!
National days in August – The end of summer, Chocolate Chip cookie Day and National Oyster Day come this month.
National days in September – Celebrate Labor Day, Teddy Bear Day and so many food holidays this month!
List of national days in October – Halloween, black cats, pumpkin carving and caramel apples give you lots of reasons to celebrate.
November national days – Find out about Thanksgiving, the Cookie Monster, Peanut Butter Fudge, Pumpkin Pie and more.
National days of December – It’s time to celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah in grand style

Weekly and monthly national observances

Each month has a list of national days. Most days have multiple days to celebrate.

Did you know that there are also national monthly observances?

We’ve all heard of Black History Month, celebrated in February. In addition to this observance, February is also American Heart Month, and National Cherry Month, as well as almost 20 more.

Like February, each month of the year has multiple monthly observances to honor.

And, lucky for us, there are also national weeks to observe! With so many days, events and happenings, we will never run out of things to celebrate!

National federal holidays vs national holidays vs national days

Our monthly lists of national days include federal holidays, national holidays, and national days.

Here at Always the Holidays, every type of holiday is also considered a national day.

There are differences between the three types of holidays. Federal holidays are those that have been recognized by the US Government. This means that government offices are closed, and federal employees are paid to have the day off.

A national holiday is a day when a nation or a non-sovereign country celebrates its independence, establishment or an otherwise important occasion.

National days, such as most of those in our lists, are days that individuals have made up to celebrate their interests. We love to celebrate all three types of special days.

Recognized national federal holidays

Each of the national holidays, recognized by the federal government, is also considered a national day. The 10 days below are the only national holidays where the federal government offices are closed and employees have time off.

New Year’s Day (January 1) – Be sure to check out the lucky foods to eat today!
Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Third Monday in January) – He was born on January 15 but the day is celebrated on a Monday each year.
Presidents Day (Third Monday in February) – From George Washington to our current president, all of the presidents are celebrated on this day.
Memorial Day (Last Monday in May) – The national holiday honors those who have died in American wars.
Juneteenth (June 19) – This holiday commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans.
Independence Day (July 4) – Celebrate the 4th with some patriotic recipe ideas.
Labor Day (First Monday in September) – This day honors the contributions and achievements of American workers.
Columbus Day (Second Monday in October) – A holiday in the United States that commemorates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the New World in 1492.
Veterans Day (November 11) – This day is a tribute to military veterans who served in the US Armed Forces.
Thanksgiving Day (Fourth Thursday in November) – We gather to give thanks in many ways at this popular end of the year holiday.
Christmas Day (December 25) – For 2000 years, people around the world observe this day with traditions that are both religious and secular in nature.

You can see how easy it is to come up to 2000 national days in the year!

State national days

We have learned hundreds of ways to celebrate national days already. In the United States of America, each of the 50 states has a national day.

In the same way that each state has its own flower and flag, we honor the state in its entirety with its own national day.

Each state’s national day falls on a different date. National North Carolina Day is September 28.

Do you know what your state’s national day is?

Monthly word search printables of national days

Do you like to do puzzles? You may be interested in our printable puzzles for each month. We choose several special days for each month and hide them in word find puzzles. They are a lot of fun!

Print it out and indulge in some much needed me-time.

For the national days word search printables for the other months, check out these pages:

We also have word puzzles for the holidays that occur during the year. Check out these holiday word searches and word scrambles.

Father’s Day – word search and word scramble
Independence Day – word search and word scramble
Summer – word search and word scramble
Labor Day – word search and word scramble
Fall – word search and word scramble
Halloween – word search and word scramble
Thanksgiving – word search and word scramble

Check back often, as we frequently add new word scrambles and word searches!

Pin this national day guide for later

Would you like a reminder of this post about what are national days? Just pin this image to one of your holiday boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.

Admin note: this national day guide first appeared on the blog in March of 2018. I have updated the post to add all new photos, more information about national days, a kids coloring sheet, and a video for you to enjoy.

Would you like to teach your kids about the national days, too? A good start way to start is with a fun seek and find national day coloring sheet.

Yield: 1 coloring sheet