Penguin Day

Penguin Day
Also called	Eintrachtia Day (official until 2024), national day (Chinese: 國慶日)
Type	Historical, cultural, national
Significance	Anniversary of House of Ballister on 21 September 2013
Celebrations	Parades, flag raising
Date	21 September
Frequency	Annual
First time	21 September 2013 (traditional) 21 September 2024

Penguin Day (Chinese: 企鵝日, Portuguese: Dia dos Pinguins), also known as Eintrachtia Day (Chinese: 國慶日, Portuguese: Dia da Eintrachtia), is the national day of Eintrachtia. It is a statutory holiday that celebrates the joining of the first stuffed penguin into the later royal household of Eintrachtia which occurred on 21 September 2013. It was known previously solely by the name Eintrachtia Day, and was celebrated on 30 May, the assumed date of foundation of the State of the Penguins, the predecessor state to the Kingdom of Eintrachtia. The first formally celebrated Penguin Day would be on 21 September 2024, after discovering the exact date of the purchase of the stuffed penguin, later known as Penguin Ball Ballister I; the national day was changed subsequently, and the last one to be celebrated on 30 May was the seventh Eintrachtia Day, in 2024.

History

The exact date of the proclamation of the Penguins State was never confirmed, as it began as a proto state that exists only in the form of an idea. Although some might argue that the Penguins State began when Ballistelliburg, the first province of Eintrachtia, was constituted, it is still certain that a sense of nationality existed before any physical territory was claimed by the state. In 2018, a research on the history of the Penguinsian nationality began, shortly afterwards, it was decided that the date 30 May 2009 would be the ceremonial birthday of Penguin Ball Balister II, the successor of Penguin Ball Ballister I, the first penguin in Eintrachtia. Therefore, given that the former is the successor to the latter, who is the key element in the foundation of the Penguins State, the date 30 May was to be the national day of Eintrachtia, this was passed by the parliament at the time in 2022. The first formal celebration of Eintrachtia Day was in May 2022, although in the past, between 2018 to 2021, the date had been formally celebrated as the ceremonial birthday of Penguin Ball Ballister II; and thus in 2022, the celebration continued to use a cake, which later became a tradition of the national holiday.

On the eve of the seventh Eintrachtia Day, on 29 May 2024, the precise date of the purchase of the stuffed penguin Penguin Ball Ballister I was confirmed by the research team; upon discovering a digital photograph that was stored deep within the Royal Archives, the team, which included the King Father, presumably the photographer, discovered the date on which the photograph was taken, which was 21 September 2013. The photograph depicted a young King John holding Ballister I in a hotel lounge in Taiwan, one day following the purchase of the stuffed penguin. By this logic, the date of purchase would be on 20 September. However, according to the tradition of celebration, a cake has been involved in every Eintrachtia Day dating to 2018, and since the King's maternal grandmother's birthday is on 21 September, it was decided that the "Penguin Day" would be celebrated on 21 September to honour the works and contributions made by the King's grandmother to Eintrachtia. The date is also acknowledged as the founding day of the House of Ballister.

Commemoration

Penguin Day commemorates the beginning of the House of Ballister, which was founded in 2013 after John L, later known as King John of Eintrachtia, named a stuffed penguin Ball. Subsequently all stuffed penguins that joined the royal court are given the surname Ballister, or Ball for short. It was the first stuffed penguin, later known formally as Penguin Ball Ballister I, that is considered the starting point of the obsession of penguins in the royal family, and therefore became a popular choice for an officialised national day, as the former national day on 30 May was an educated assumption of the foundation date of the Penguins State.

Celebration of Penguin Day usually consists of military parades and a flag raising ceremony. The armed forces usually marches down a public road and then performs the national anthem while conducting a flag raising ceremony. The king would then join the people and conduct a birthday cake cutting ceremony as a tradition.

See also

• Flag of Eintrachtia
• Coat of arms of Eintrachtia
• Kingdom of Eintrachtia