Mother's Day Date in the current year: May 26, 2024

Mother's Day was popularized in France during World War I by American soldiers, who fought on the territory of the country. The soldiers sent to the USA so many letters to congratulate their mothers, that the Union Franco-Américaine created special postal cards for that purpose.

The town of Lyon was inspired by the soldiers and Anna Jarvis (the creator of the holiday) in 1918, that is why it wanted to celebrate its own holiday called “Journée Nationale des Mères de familles nombreuses” (National Day of the Mothers and Large Families) and awarded mothers of large families with medals. The French government made this holiday official in 1920 and the traditional medal awards are kept until today.

In 1941 French government used the celebration to encourage larger families, but at that time all mothers (even with smaller families) were awarded. During the 1950s the patriotic ideology of Mother's Day was lost and the holiday became heavily commercialized.

In Sweden Mother's Day was introduced in 1919, but people born in the beginning of the century didn't celebrate the holiday much due to the belief of the strict commercial purposes of the day. Today Mother's Day in Sweden is celebrated on the last Sunday in May, that allows everyone to go outside and pick flowers.