When is Romanian Language Day?
Romanian Language Day is a public holiday in Moldova observed on August 31st, the traditional last day of summer.
In March 2023, Moldova changed its state language to Romanian, also changing the name of this holiday to Romanian Language Day.
Previously known as "Limba noastră" (Our Language), it celebrates the state language of Moldova.
History of Romanian Language Day
In 1940, Moldova (then known as Bessarabia) had been occupied by the USSR as a result of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. The use of Russian Cyrillic was then imposed as the official alphabet of the newly founded Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (MSSR).
The majority of Moldovans had been speaking Romanian and the imposition of Cyrillic was seen as an attempt by the Soviets to drive a wedge between Moldova and Romania, forcing closer ties with Russia.
On August 27th 1989, the Popular Front of Moldova organised a mass demonstration of over 300,000 people in the capital Chişinău. This demonstration became known as the Great National Assembly and helped convince the authorities of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic to adopt a language law.
On August 31st 1989, the Supreme Soviet of the MSSR adopted a law that stipulated a return to the Latin alphabet from the Cyrillic script imposed by the USSR after the second world war. The legislation explicitly mentioned the fact that the Moldovan language is identical to the Romanian language.
The following year, parliament instituted August 31st as a national holiday celebrating the Romanian language.
The language law also formally proclaimed that Moldovan and Romanian were the same. The Soviets had insisted that Moldovan was a different language from Romanian in order to promote the idea that Moldovans and Romanians were separate nations.
On June 23rd 1990 the Moldovan Parliament established August 31st as National Language Day.
How is Romanian Language Day Celebrated?
On Romanian Language Day, the President of the Republic of Moldova will lay flowers at the monument to Stefan cel Mare and at statues of Romanian-language writers in Central Park in the capital, Chişinău.
At a recent National Language Day, the President said, "This is a holiday of our historical language, the language spoken by the great Stefan, the Moldovan language. This is how it is stated in the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova. I call on all to respect the Constitution, to know and respect our language because it is part of our age-old history."
The holiday is seen as a patriotic holiday and second only in importance to Independence Day which takes place a few days before on August 27th.
Happy Limba noastră!
