Belgian National Day

Belgian National Day
Crowds in front of the Royal Palace in Brussels, commemorating the not yet formalised celebration in 1856
Observed by	Belgians
Significance	Anniversary of the date in 1831 that Leopold I swore allegiance to the constitution as the first King of the Belgians
Date	21 July
Next time	21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)
Frequency	annual
Related to	Belgian Constitution, Belgian Independence.

Belgian National Day (Dutch: Nationale feestdag van België; French: Fête nationale belge; German: Belgischer Nationalfeiertag) is the national holiday of Belgium celebrated on 21 July each year. It is one of ten public holidays in Belgium.

The festival's formal establishment dates to a law of 27 May 1890 and commemorates an event on 21 July 1831 in which Leopold of Saxe-Cobourg swore allegiance to the new Belgian constitution, thus becoming the nation's first monarch. The king's vow marked the start of the independent state of Belgium under a constitutional monarchy and parliament.

In 1830, drawing inspiration from the recent July Revolution in France, the southern provinces of the United Netherlands rebelled against Dutch rule after a period of growing economic, religious, and political alienation. After some fighting in August-September 1830, the Dutch were forced out of much of the region and Belgium gained de facto independence. A National Congress was created to write a Constitution for the new state.

The Congress decided that the new country would be a constitutional monarchy (associated with political stability) rather than a republic, in order to reassure foreign governments and the Belgian middle class who associated republicanism with "mob rule" in the aftermath of the French Revolution of 1789. The Congress called upon Leopold of Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha, a German nobleman, to be the first King of the Belgians on 4 June 1831.