Father’s Day is almost here and now's the time to start planning your gifts before it passes by.
Before you start making frantic online orders for ‘Best Dad Ever’ mugs, football scarves and cards filled with toilet humour, it helps to know the date of Father's Day - and what's affordable.
And the day has some interesting origins that not everybody will be aware of, which date back as early as the 1500s – but its true roots are in a campaign started by the daughter of a single father in early 20th century America.
So, when is Father’s Day in 2022, is the date in the UK the same as it is worldwide, and why do we celebrate it?
Is Father's Day always on a Sunday?
The date of Father’s Day does not vary as wildly as Mother’s Day, which is held on the fourth Sunday of Lent, meaning mothers have been celebrated on days varying between March 2 and April 3 over the past 15 years.
By contrast, Father’s Day always falls between June 15 and June 21. This is because it is always held on the third Sunday of June.
When is Father’s Day 2022?
This year, Father’s Day will be on Sunday, June 19.
What is the origin of Father's Day and why do we celebrate it?
Father’s Day likely dates back to the 1500s European Catholic tradition of St Joseph’s Day, March 19.
But the modern tradition dates back to an American campaigner named Sonora Smart Dodd, a woman who was raised by her Civil War veteran father after her mother’s death.
She started a campaign in 1910 to match the annual Mother’s Day with a celebration for fathers, which quickly caught on and the day was widely celebrated.
Why is Father's Day in June?
Dodd’s campaign led to Father’s Day being celebrated on the third Sunday in June but it was only proclaimed as a national holiday in the USA nearly 60 years later in 1966, when President Lyndon B. Johnson wrote: “In the homes of our Nation, we look to the fathers to provide the strength and stability which characterize the successful family.
“If the father's responsibilities are many, his rewards are also great – the love, appreciation, and respect of children and spouse.”
President Johnson set the date as the third Sunday in June, which officially became a holiday in the USA by the 1970s.
By this point, it had already caught on as a popular holiday in the UK and this is likely why we follow the American date.
Is the date different in the UK and other countries?
The UK is among dozens of countries including Argentina, India, Japan and Ukraine that follow the USA’s example by celebrating Father’s Day in late June.
This is unlike Mother’s Day, which has a completely different date in the USA and UK – often leading to a scare for Brits who wake up to Americans posting on social media about their mothers and worry that they’ve forgotten to buy a present.
But Father’s Day is not celebrated on the same day worldwide.
In Russia it only became a holiday in 2021 after a decree from Vladimir Putin, and is marked on the third Sunday of October. This year, Father’s Day will be on Sunday, October 16 in Russia.
Some Arabic-speaking countries celebrate Father’s Day on June 21, the same day as the summer solstice – but in most of these countries, including Egypt, Jordan and Syria, it is not as big an event as Mother’s Day.
