In the Republic of Ireland, St. Patrick's Day, 17 March, has been the National Day and a Public Holiday for many years, and in recent years it has been observed as a full Public Holiday in Northern Ireland too.

However, in the rest of the United Kingdom the constituent countries' patron saints' days are low-key affairs. In recent times campaigns have commenced to promote the National Days of England, Scotland and Wales, with St Andrew's Day being designated as an official bank holiday when the Scottish Parliament passed the St Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007. A National day for the United Kingdom has also been proposed in recent years.

Most countries have a fixed date National Day, but some have movable dates. An example here is Jamaica, which celebrates its National Day on the first Monday in August. This commemorates independence from the United Kingdom which was attained on Monday, 6 August 1962 - the first Monday in August of that year. Another example is Thailand which celebrates the birthday of the King on 5 December. This date will change on the accession of the heir to the throne.

Editor: Yan Fei