Belgian National Day / Nationale feestdag van België / Fête nationale belge / Belgischer Nationalfeiertag is the national holiday of Belgium commemorated annually on 21 July. It is one of Belgium’s ten public holidays and marks the anniversary of the investiture of King Leopold I, the country’s first monarch, in 1831. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Belgium became part of the United Netherlands. Between August and October 1830, the Belgian Revolution forced Dutch forces out of the country. By November, the different revolutionary factions had coalesced around the idea of national independence and began drafting a constitution for the new state. It was decided that it would become a constitutional and popular monarchy. Searching for a monarch, the revolutionaries decided on Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a German aristocrat popular in Great Britain. Leopold arrived in Brussels in July 1831 and, on 21 July, swore allegiance to the constitution, becoming the country’s first monarch. It is thus considered to mark the start of the modern Kingdom of Belgium.
Recent Posts
- EAR-AER wishes you a Happy Flemish Feast Day!
- 5th June 2024, the opening conference of the SMART4NATURE project: Education and Technology for Environmental Protection, Vama Buzăului Municipality, Brașov County, Romania.
- Europe Day 2024: European institutions across Europe welcome citizens to their Open Day events
- The conference of launching the BOOST: Balkans for Optimizing Opportunities, Sustainability and Civil Society Transformation project, Tirana, 30th April 2024.
- 23rd April, EAR-AER, Smrt.bio and GPN Worldwide join forces to advance digital skills