Kingdom Day

The Netherlands marks Kingdom Day on 15 December, the day on which Queen Juliana signed the Charter for the Kingdom in the Hall of Knights (Ridderzaal) in 1954.

At that time the Kingdom of the Netherlands was made up of the Netherlands in Europe, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles.

Kingdom Day is not an official public holiday.

Since 2005, the Kingdom Concert has been given on 15 December to celebrate solidarity within the Kingdom. In 2008 Naturalisation Day, on which naturalisation ceremonies take place for new Dutch nationals, was also moved to 15 December.

All government buildings must fly the Dutch flag on Kingdom Day.