Public holidays in Iceland

Public holidays in Iceland are established by the act of Parliament (Alþingi).^[1] The holidays are currently x, two of which are only holidays after noon (although many workers get the whole day off). There are also twelve official flagdays in Iceland, some of which are not public holidays. On a flag day all government buildings fly the flag. Although citizens are not obliged to do it, most people do, if they have a flagpole.

Following is a list of public holidays in Iceland:

Date	English name	Local name	Comment
January 1	New Year's Day	Nýársdagur	Flag Day.
moveable	Maundy Thursday	Skírdagur	Literal meaning: Christening day
moveable	Good Friday	Föstudagurinn langi	Flag Day (flown at half-mast) Literal meaning: Long Friday.
moveable	Easter Day	Páskadagur	Flag Day
moveable	Easter Monday	Annar í páskum	Literal meaning: Second day of Easter
moveable	First Day of Summer	Sumardagurinn fyrsti	Flag Day Thursday between 19 and 25 April
May 1	May Day	Verkalýðsdagurinn	Flag Day Literal meaning: Labour Day
moveable	Ascension	Uppstigningardagur
moveable	Whit Sunday	Hvítasunnudagur	Flag Day
moveable	Whit Monday	Annar í hvítasunnu	Literal meaning: Second in White Sunday
June 17	Icelandic National Day	Þjóðhátíðardagurinn	Flag Day Commemorates the foundation of the republic. Typically referred to as "17. júní".
moveable	Commerce Day	Frídagur verslunarmanna	First Monday in August. The long weekend is usually the largest domestic travel weekend
December 24	Christmas Eve	Aðfangadagur	Holiday from 13:00
December 25	Christmas Day	Jóladagur	Flag Day
December 26	Boxing Day	Annar í jólum	Literal meaning: Second day of Christmas
December 31	New Year's Eve	Gamlársdagur	Literal meaning: Old Year's Day. Holiday from 13:00

In addition to the public holidays, other special days are celebrated in Iceland, some of which are official flagdays as well.

Date	English name	Local name	Literal meaning	Remarks
January 6	Epiphany	Þrettándinn	The Thirteenth
moveable	Husband's Day	Bóndadagur		Friday between 19 and 25 January
moveable	Woman's Day	Konudagur		Sunday between 18 and 24 February
March 1	Beer Day	Bjórdagurinn		Celebrates the legalization of beer in Iceland, March 1, 1989.
moveable	Shrove Monday	Bolludagur	Bun Day
moveable	Shrove Tuesday	Sprengidagur	Bursting Day
moveable	Ash Wednesday	Öskudagur	Ash Day
moveable	Palm Sunday	Pálmasunnudagur
moveable	Mothers' Day	Mæðradagurinn		Second Sunday in May
moveable	The Seamen's Day	Sjómannadagurinn	The Seamen's day	First Sunday of June. Flag Day
June 19	Women's rights day	Kvenréttindadagurinn	Women's rights day
June 24	Nativity of St John the Baptist	Jónsmessa	Jón's Mass
moveable	The First Day of Winter	Fyrsti vetrardagur
November 16	Icelandic Language Day	Dagur íslenskrar tungu	Day of the Icelandic Tongue	Flag Day
December 1	Self-governance Day	Fullveldisdagurinn		Flag Day
December 23	Holy Þorlák's Day	Þorláksmessa

References

1. "88/1971: Lög um 40 stunda vinnuviku". Alþingi. Retrieved 2016-06-01.