Different countries celebrate Mother's Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins. One school of thought claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece, which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of Greek gods. This festival was held around the Vernal Equinox around Asia Minor and eventually in Rome itself from the Ides of March (15 March) to 18 March. The ancient Romans also had another holiday, Matronalia, that was dedicated to Juno, though mothers were usually given gifts on this day. In some countries the Mother's Day began not as a celebration for individual mothers but rather for Christians.
When is Mother's Day in the United States?
The United States celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In the United States, Mother's Day was loosely inspired by the British day and was imported by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War. However, it was intended as a call to unite women against war. In 1870, she wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation as a call for peace and disarmament. Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace. Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors. In parts of the United States it is customary to plant tomatoes outdoors after Mother's Day (and not before).
When Jarvis died in 1907, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first such Mother's Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on 10 May, 1908, in the church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Grafton is the home to the International Mother's Day Shrine. From there, the custom caught on — spreading eventually to 45 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war (with specific reference to The Great War).
Nine years after the first official Mother's Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become. Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States.
When is Mother's Day in various parts of the world?
In most countries, Mother's Day is a new concept copied from western civilization. In many African countries, the idea of one Mother's Day has its origins in copying the British concept, although there are many festivals and events celebrating mothers within the many diverse cultures on the African continent that have been there centuries before the colonials arrived. In most of East Asia, Mother's Day is a heavily marketed and commercialized concept copied straight from Mother's Day in the USA.Mother's Day is celebrated on different days throughout the world. Examining the trends in Google searches for the term "mother's day" shows two major blips, the smaller one on the fourth Sunday in Lentit is also called ladies day and women's day, and the larger one on the second Sunday in May.
Note: The definition used in the following table allows "Women's day" to be treated the same as "Mother's Day".
Second Sunday in February
NorwayShevat 30 (falls anywhere between January 30 and March 1)
IsraelMarch 3
Georgia (country)March 8
Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Laos, Montenegro, Romania, Macedonia*, Mongolia*, Russia*, Serbia, Ukraine. *In Belarus, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Guyana, Mongolia, Russia it is observed as International Women's Day, not specifically Mothers' day. In Romania it is celebrated as both Mother's Day and ladies Day.Fourth Sunday in Lent (Mothering Sunday)
Ireland, United Kingdom, NigeriaMarch 21 (first day of spring)
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, YemenMarch 25
SloveniaApril 7
ArmeniaBaisakh Amavasya (Mata Tirtha Aunsi)
NepalFirst Sunday in May
Hungary, Lithuania, Portugal, SpainMay 8
South Korea, Albania (Parents' Day)May 10
Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, OmanMay 26
PolandSecond Sunday in May - Mother's Day
Anguilla, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Croatia, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Bulgaria, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Malta, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, St. Lucia, Suriname, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, ZimbabweMay 27
BoliviaLast Sunday in May
France (except if it coincides with Pentecost day, in which case Mother's Day will be shifted to the first Sunday of June), Dominican Republic, Haiti, Sweden, Morocco, Mauritius, Algeria, Tunisia.May 30
NicaraguaJune 1
Mongolia (The Mothers and Children's Day. Mongolia is the only country that celebrates Mother's day twice a year.)2nd Sunday of June
LuxembourgLast Sunday of June
KenyaAugust 12
Thailand (the birthday of Queen Sirikit Kitiyakara)August 15 (Assumption Day)
Antwerp (Belgium), Costa RicaSecond Monday in October
MalawiOctober 14
BelarusThird Sunday in October
Argentina (Día de la Madre)Last Sunday of November
RussiaDecember 8
Panama16 December, Iranian calendar: 25 Azar (Mother And Child Foundation)
IranDecember 22
IndonesiaSource and additional information: Mother's Day