National Day of Sweden origins

Sweden has officially celebrated its National Day on June 6 only since 1983. It is the date on which Gustav Eriksson Vasa was elected king in 1523 after he led an uprising to break the union between Sweden, Denmark and Norway. This re-established Sweden as an independent state. On the same date a new, important Constitution was adopted in 1809.

The original idea came from Artur Hazelius, who founded the Skansen open-air museum in Stockholm and held a national day celebration there on June 6 as early as the 1890s.