Norway's National Day, May 17: 2003 - 2023


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Of course it is Magnus´right. Still it´s a bit of a pity.


Prcss Ingrid A. is definitely the prettiest Princess of her generation.

It would have been nice to see Sverre in the traditional costume - I’ve always thought the men’s costume is quite smart looking, and it nicely complements the women’s more colourful dress. But obviously it’s a personal choice, and Sverre looks nice in his suit.

I agree that Ingrid is a beautiful girl; she got the best features from both parents. She and her mother both wear the traditional dress very well.

And it’s nice to see the family is still including the dog in the celebrations!
 
Here is Nina Berglund's report of the second consecutive scaled-down National Day, noting the royal couple's efforts to appear for the public despite the pouring rain.

https://www.newsinenglish.no/2021/05/17/another-different-17th-of-may/

All radio and TV stations carried the vastly scaled-down royal celebration of Norway’s Constitution Day on Monday. [...]

At precisely noon, canons roared from the nearby Akershus Fortress and Castle and the royals sang Norway’s national anthem, with everyone watching encouraged to sing along.

Many reportedly did, from their own living rooms, out on balconies or in gardens in towns and cities where the weather was better (in Stavanger, the sun was shining). Norwegians all over the country also shared photos of songfests at noon, from mountaintops, coastal villages or indoor luncheons.

[...]

Not everyone is cooperating, however, with police reporting on Monday that they stopped a protest demonstration that was heading towards the palace. It was called an “Alternative 17th of May Parade,” mounted by those opposing and often defying Corona restrictions.


On a side note, Sverre Magnus is called Magnus by his family.
 
In honor of National Day, newsinenglish.no also printed an interesting article about the history of the Norwegian flag.

https://www.newsinenglish.no/2021/05/16/two-centuries-of-flag-waving/


One local resident commented: “All the people living there fly the flag whenever one of them has something to celebrate.” Many Norwegians observe official flag days like New Year’s Day and some religious holidays, and it’s common for Norwegians to fly the flag on their birthdays or put strings of flags on the Christmas tree,

[...] Norwegian kings took part in the Crusades in the Middle East to liberate Jerusalem and other holy sites from Muslim occupation. They were perhaps inspired to use the Christian cross for their own banner designs at home.

[...] in 1821 when Fredrik Meltzer, a politician from Bergen, convinced Parliament to choose the flag that Norway has today. Meltzer reckoned that red, white and blue were already the colours of several freedom-loving democratic nations like the United States, Britain, and the Netherlands. A cross would also reflect the tradition and style already in use by Norway’s neighbours. It was, moreover, a polite design, combining the blue in Sweden’s flag (albeit much darker) with the red and white of Denmark’s. It was a simple pattern. And it was cheap, Meltzer pointed out – it could be made by cutting up a Danish flag and adding some blue material.

[...]

The Norwegian flag and its use remained a problem in the union, though. [...] Both countries could use their own flag, but with a clear symbol of their union. That wasn’t popular in either country, and the solution was nicknamed sildesalaten (herring salad) referring to its resulting strange mix of colours. Led by nation-builders like Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, flag politics got very divisive towards the end of the 1800s, adding to the forces that finally blew Norway’s union with Sweden apart in 1905.

[...] The rapidly growing Labour Party, dominated by communists at the time, saw the national flag as a bourgeois passion. Defining the church as a tool for oppression, radicals didn’t like the symbolism of a Christian cross either. [...]

Labour’s moderate wing eventually pushed through a “take back the flag” strategy in the 1930s, clearing the way for Norwegian flags in May Day parades along with the socialist red ones. That turned out to be a fortunate move a few years later, with the outbreak of World War II, the occupation of Norway by Germany and the rise to power of a puppet Nazi party in Norway known as Nasjonal Samling (NS). [...] That led to conflicting policies like allowing the Norwegian flag to fly from poles, but not hand-held ones. Demonstratively wearing garments in the flag’s clours was controversial, too. The red nisselue, a red wool hat worn by Norway’s version of Santa Claus (julenissen) and popular among common folk during the war years, was downright verboten by the Germans. After liberation in May 1945, Norway exploded in a formidable flag feast, re-establishing the flag as a tool for the people.
 
I admire the Norwegians, so many of them wear their bunad on the National Day, at the confirmations and family celebrations.
For instance, a huge sports star in Norway, the Olympic and World Champion in cross country skiing, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, wears every year bunad on the National Day and publishes photos of him and his girlfriend.
In 2019
In 2020
In 2021
 
It's the first time I see Haakon in Sverre Magnus!

That's a beautiful family.
 
English version of the Royal House press release:

Happy Constitution Day! - The Royal House of Norway

After two years without children's parades and many of the other traditions that usually fill the celebration of 17th of May, greeting the children's parade had a special significance this year.

The schools of Høybråten and Slemdal headed the Oslo parade. This great honour traditionally goes to schools celebrating anniversaries, and Høybråten and Slemdal are both 100 years old in 2022.

Just before the first part of the children's parade reached the Palace Square, both the Royal anthem and the National anthem of Norway sounded - and then the children entered into the square. A record breaking 130 schools attended this year.

[...]

Tradition

It was King Haakon and Queen Maud who introduced the custom of greeting the children’s parade from the Palace Balcony in 1906. The custom has been upheld ever since. The only exceptions were in 1910, when the Royal Family was in England for the funeral of Queen Maud’s father, King Edward VII, during World War II from 1940 to 1944, and during the corona pandemic from 2020-2021.


I wish Prince Sverre Magnus would have worn a bunad as well.
 
This year:

17 May 2023: Children's parade in Asker and Oslo
The Crown Prince's family greets the children's parade in Asker from the stairs at Skaugum from 08.15. True to tradition, the Royal Family greets the children's parade in Oslo from the Castle Balcony from 10.30am.

Her Royal Highness Princess Ingrid Alexandra is this year a graduating student at Elvebakken upper secondary school and is celebrating graduation time with her peers. The princess therefore has no official program this day.

https://www.kongehuset.no/artikkel.html?tid=219015&sek=112472
 
The Palace announced today, May 16, that following his latest infection and hospital stay, it's been decided that King Harald can attend the National Day celebration tomorrow, that is he will appear on the Palace balcony as usual:


** kongehuset: Hans Majestet Kongen friskmeldt til 17. mai **

His Majesty King Harald has been declared healthy from 17 May and will be present on the Palace Balcony to greet the children's train.
 
Always great to see bunad :bang:

SM is so tall now, even taller than Haakon! I always think he mainly resembles Olav but I also see Harald now.

Where is Ingrid-Alexandra?

You might read the reply from fellow poster in this page ?
 
The King looks pleased to be able to share this day with the public. Could anyone explain the significance of the ribbons worn by the royal family?
 
Yay, Harald! ❤️

It looks like it was cold today.
 

Thanks! So it is simply a traditional way to deck oneself out for National Day for those who do not want to go as far as wearing a bunad.


Still I was expecting her to attend in her red graduation outfit together with her classmates in the parade...!:ermm:

Perhaps they are too busy partying. ;)


An American tourist was arrested for flying a drone over the Royal Palace on National Day.

https://www.newsinenglish.no/2023/05/17/police-seized-drone-over-royal-palace/
 
Perhaps they are too busy partying. ;)

Remove the "perhaps" and I think you've got it. :cool: The Palace's statement of "Ingrid Alexandra is graduating and with her classmates" is a very polite way of saying the same thing.

She'll be back next year. And Sverre Magnus will be absent with his classmates when he graduates, not that he is as excitedly followed as his sister.
 
Back
Top Bottom