National Day on July 21: What exactly are you celebrated?

July 21 is the national holiday in Belgium. One public holiday marked by parades, concerts, fireworks … but also, often, by a ignorance of what he really commemorates. Unlike a widespread idea, it is neither the day of independence of the country, nor the official foundation of the Belgian State.

The date of July 21, 1831 actually marks the oath provided by Léopold I, first king of the Belgians, before the Parliament. That day, he swears loyalty to the Belgian Constitution, adopted a few months earlier, and became the first sovereign of the young kingdom, born following the Belgian revolution of 1830. This symbolic moment anchors the constitutional monarchy as the cornerstone of the new state.

This choice is not trivial. In 1830, Belgium had revolted against the regime of King Guillaume I of the Netherlands, proclaiming its independence on October 4. But it is the arrival of Léopold de Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha, former German prince and widower of the heiress princess of England, which gives Belgium a lasting diplomatic recognition. July 21 therefore became the day devoted to the unity of the country around its institutions.

King Philippe, a seventh sovereign since Léopold I, also took an oath on July 21, in 2013, after the abdication of his father, King Albert II. Each year, Philippe perpetuates this tradition: he attended the Te Deum in several cities of the country, delivered a speech on the eve of July 21 and reviewed the troops during the traditional military parade in Brussels. Through his function, he embodies a role of arbitrator and representation, in a federal state with various sensitivities.

National Day is also a moment of expression of Belgian living together, despite community tensions and political differences. July 21 is, more than a simple public holiday, a recall of the progressive construction of a modern state around a democratic pact, that of 1831, and a constitutional monarchy which remains one of the symbols.