Heroes' Day or National Heroes' Day may refer to a number of commemorations of national heroes in different countries and territories. It is often held on the

birthday A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage. Many religion ...

of a national hero or heroine, or the anniversary of their great deeds that made them heroes.

Angola

National Heroes' Day in

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

is a holiday in Angola on 17 September, the birthday of the national hero

Agostinho Neto António Agostinho Neto (17 September 1922 – 10 September 1979) was an Angolan Communism, communist politician and poet. He served as the first president of Angola from 1975 to 1979, having led the MPLA, Popular Movement for the Liberation of ...

Bahamas

National Heroes' Day in the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

has been a public holiday since 2013. It replaced Discovery Day, which celebrated the arrival of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

to the Americas.

Barbados

National Heroes' Day Heroes' Day or National Heroes' Day may refer to a number of commemorations of national heroes in different countries and territories. It is often held on the birthday of a national hero or heroine, or the anniversary of their great deeds that ...

is a

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, federal holiday, statutory holiday, bank holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Types Civic holiday A ''civic holiday'', also k ...

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

on April 28, honoring the eleven national heroes of Barbados. It was first celebrated on 28 April 1998, the centenary of the birth of national hero

Grantley Adams Sir Grantley Herbert Adams, CMG, QC (28 April 1898 – 28 November 1971) was a Barbadian politician. He served as the inaugural premier of Barbados from 1954 to 1958 and then became the first and only prime minister of the West Indies Feder ...

, after the passing of the Order of National Heroes Act 1998.

Bermuda

National Heroes' Day has been an official holiday in

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

since 2008, when the centre-left government declared it would replace the

Queen's Official Birthday The King's Official Birthday or Queen's Official Birthday is the selected day in most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of the monarch is officially celebrated in those countries. It does not necessarily correspond to the date of the m ...

marked in June. Over 2,000 residents signed a petition in protest calling to retain the Queen's Birthday holiday. Initially observed in October, the holiday was moved to the third Monday of June in 2009. Currently Bermuda has eight (8) National Heroes, voting is open to the public once every decade as of June 2022, with the next nomination period beginning in 2025.

Cape Verde

Heroes Day is a public holiday in Cape Verde on 20 January. It commemorates the 1973 assassination of

Amílcar Cabral Amílcar Lopes Cabral (; – ) was a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer, political organizer, and diplomat. He was one of Africa's foremost anti-colonial leaders. He was also a pan-Africanist and intellectual nationalist ...

, who is remembered as a hero for fighting western

colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

and exploitation.

Cayman Islands

The fourth Monday in January is National Heroes' Day in the Cayman Islands; it was proclaimed with the National Heroes Law, providing for the declaration of persons who have rendered exceptional service as national heroes. Numerous Caymanians have been declared national heroes, includes the Hon. James (Jim) Manoah Bodden, Mrs. Sybil I. McLaughlin, Mr. Thomas William Farrington, Mrs. Sybil Joyce Hylton, Mr. Desmond Vere Watler, Ms Mary Evelyn Wood, Cert. Hon. and William Warren Conolly.

East Timor

December 31 is

National Heroes Day Heroes' Day or National Heroes' Day may refer to a number of commemorations of national heroes in different countries and territories. It is often held on the birthday of a national hero or heroine, or the anniversary of their great deeds that ...

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

. It commemorates the

Indonesian invasion of East Timor The Indonesian invasion of East Timor, known in Indonesia as Operation Lotus (), began on 7 December 1975 when the Indonesian military (ABRI/TNI) invaded East Timor under the pretext of anti-colonialism and anti-communism to overthrow the Fre ...

Guinea-Bissau

Heroes' Day is celebrated on

January 20 Events Pre-1600 * 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution. *1156 – Finnish peasant Lalli kills English clergyman Henry (bishop of Finland), Henry, the Bishop of Turku, on the ice of Köyliönjärvi, Lake Köyli� ...

to commemorate the assassination of independence leader

Amilcar Cabral The Amilcar was a French automobile manufactured from 1921 to 1940. History Foundation and location Amilcar was founded in July 1921 by Joseph Lamy and Emile Akar. The name "Amilcar" was an imperfect anagram of the partners' names. The busine ...

in 1973.

Hungary

Heroes' Day (), National Heroes' Day or the Memorial Day of Hungarian Heroes in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

is celebrated on the 31 May as a public holiday. It is observed with military ceremonies at monuments such as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Heroes' Square in Budapest all to commemorate soldiers in service to Hungary. It has been marked every year by the

Hungarian Defence Force The Hungarian Defence Forces (, ) is the national armed forces, defence force of Hungary. Since 2007, the Hungarian Armed Forces has been under a unified command structure. The Ministry of Defence maintains political and civil control over the ar ...

and the public since 2001.

Indonesia

Hari Pahlawan ( Indonesian for Heroes' Day) is a national day annually celebrated on 10 November in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. The day commemorates the 1945

Battle of Surabaya The Battle of Surabaya () was a major battle in the Indonesian National Revolution fought between regular infantry and militia of the Indonesian nationalist movement and British and British Indian Army, British Indian troops against the re-imp ...

, in which pro-independence

n local community, as well as soldiers and militia fought against British and Dutch troops as part of the

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution (), also known as the Indonesian War of Independence (, ), was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during A ...

Jamaica

In Jamaica, Heroes' Day is celebrated annually on the third Monday of October. It started in 1969. It honours

Alexander Bustamante Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante (born William Alexander Clarke; 24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was a Jamaican politician and Jamaica Labour Party leader, who, on Independence Day, August 6th, 1962, became the first prime minister ...

, Jamaica’s first prime minister;

Nanny of the Maroons Nanny of the Maroons Order of National Hero (Jamaica), ONH (c. 1686 – c. 1760), also known as Queen Nanny and Granny Nanny, was a Jamaican revolutionary and leader of the Jamaican Maroons. She led a community of formerly-enslaved escapees, the ...

, who led a fight for independence in the early 18th century, and five other national heroes. The government also recognizes modern heroes on this date.

Kenya

Mashujaa Day, also known as Heroes' Day ("mashujaa" is Swahili for "heroes"), is a national day in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, which is observed on 20 October as a

to collectively honour all those who contributed towards the struggle for Kenya's independence or positively contributed in the post independence Kenya. It was previously known as Kenyatta Day, which was celebrated to commemorate the detention in Kapenguria of freedom fighters Achieng' Oneko, Bildad Kaggia, Fred Kubai,

Jomo Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta (22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He played a significant role in the ...

, Kung'u Karumba and Paul Ngei, often referred to as the

Kapenguria Six The Kapenguria Six – Bildad Kaggia, Kung'u Karumba, Jomo Kenyatta, Fred Kubai, Paul Ngei, and Achieng' Oneko – were six leading Kenyan nationalists who were arrested in 1952, tried at Kapenguria in 1952–53, and imprisoned thereafter i ...

. However, following the promulgation of the

Constitution of Kenya The Constitution of Kenya is the supreme law of the Republic of Kenya. There have been three significant versions of the constitution, with the most recent redraft being enabled in 2010. The constitution was presented to the Attorney General ...

in August 2010, Kenyatta Day was renamed.

Malaysia

Warriors' Day () is a day in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

that commemorates the servicemen killed during the two

World War A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

s and the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War, was a guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war fought in Federation of Malaya, Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Arm ...

. By extension, it honours all individuals who lost their lives in the line of duty throughout Malaysia's history. Until 2009, every year on 31 July, the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

and the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

as well as senior representatives of the

Royal Malaysian Police The Royal Malaysia Police (often abbreviated RMP) (; Jawi: ), is a (primarily) uniformed national and federal police force in Malaysia. The force is a centralised organisation, and its headquarters are located at Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur. The ...

and the Armed Forces gathered at the National Monument in

Lake Gardens Lake Gardens is a neighbourhood of South Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. It has Kalighat to the north, Jodhpur Park to the east, Prince Anwar Shah Road or Tollygunge to the south and Charu Market to the west. The famous ...

to lay wreaths and pay homage to Malaysia's fallen heroes. They now gather at

Merdeka Square, Kuala Lumpur Independence Square () is a square located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is situated in front of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building. It was formerly known as the Selangor Club Padang, or simply the ''Padang'' (meaning "field" in Malay), and was ...

, National Heroes' Square, Putrajaya or in Kem Perdana in

Sungai Besi Sungai Besi (formerly known as ''Sungei Besi'') (English: Steel River) is a town and suburb within the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. The federal constituency of Sungai Besi existed from 1974 to 1995. Sungai Besi was a historical mining t ...

, also in KL (the 2014 event was held there).

Mozambique

Heroes' Day is a

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

on 3 February. It is set to commemorate those who lost their lives in the Portuguese Colonial War.

Namibia

26 August is Heroes' Day in Namibia. It marks the beginning of the armed struggle during the

Namibian War of Independence The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

Paraguay

Heroes' Day in

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

is a national public holiday held on 1 March. It commemorates the death of President

Francisco Solano López Francisco Solano López Carrillo (24 July 1827 or 1826 – 1 March 1870) was a Paraguay, Paraguayan statesman, Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician who served as President of Paraguay between 1862 and 1870, of which he serve ...

at the battle of Cerro Cora in 1870, ending the

War of the Triple Alliance The Paraguayan War (, , ), also known as the War of the Triple Alliance (, , ), was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It wa ...

Philippines

National Heroes' Day ( Filipino: ''Araw ng mga Bayani'') is a national public holiday in the Philippines observed every last Monday in August to mark the anniversary of the

Cry of Pugad Lawin The Cry of Pugad Lawin (, ) was the beginning of the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish Empire. In late August 1896, members of the Katipunan led by Andrés Bonifacio revolted somewhere around Caloocan, which included parts of the pre ...

, the beginning of the

Philippine Revolution The Philippine Revolution ( or ; or ) was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year History of the Philippines (1565–1898), ...

by the ''

Katipunan The Katipunan (), officially known as the (; ) and abbreviated as the KKK, was a revolutionary organization founded in 1892 by a group of Filipino nationalists Deodato Arellano, Andrés Bonifacio, Valentin Diaz, Ladislao Diwa, José Dizon, an ...

'' and its ''Supremo''

Andrés Bonifacio Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro (, ; November 30, 1863May 10, 1897) was a Filipino people, Filipino revolutionary leader. He is often called "The Father of the Philippines, Philippine Philippine Revolution, Revolution", and considered a nationa ...

in 1896. This holiday was originally kept on the last Sunday of August in 1931, but in 2007 was moved to its present date by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010. She is the longest-serving president ...

to reduce work disruptions, allow for longer weekends, and boost domestic tourism and businesses.

Romania

Heroes' Day in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

is celebrated on the 40th day (

Feast of the Ascension The Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ (also called the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday) commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. It ...

) from the Orthodox Easter. It is a national holiday; observed with military and religious festivities at the monuments dedicated to the national heroes (such as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier).

Rwanda

National Heroes' Day is a

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

on 1 February.

Saint Kitts and Nevis

National Heroes Day is a holiday in

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis, officially the Federation of Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Less ...

that is observed annually on 16 September. It honours individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of the nation. There are currently five national heroes: Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw, Paul Southwell, Joseph Nathaniel France, Simeon Daniel and

Kennedy Simmonds Sir Kennedy Alphonse Simmonds, KCMG (born 12 April 1936), is a Saint Kittitian and Nevisian politician who served as the first prime minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis from 1983 to 1995. Life and career Simmonds was born in Basseterre on 12 Ap ...

. *The holiday was established in 1996 by the Saint Kitts and Nevis Federal Parliament with the passage of the ''National Honours Act''. The first observance of the holiday was on 16 September 1998 to honour Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw, the first

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

of Saint Kitts and Nevis and a former labour activist. The holiday is observed on his birthday.South African Republic The South African Republic (, abbreviated ZAR; ), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer republics, Boer republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it was annexed into the British Empire as a result ...