When Is Father's Day in My Country?

Father's Day is a day set aside to recognize fathers for their contributions to their families and society. The date for Father's Day varies all over the world.

Traditions also differ for Father's Day celebrations. For example, Catholic European countries began observing Father's Day on March 19, 1508, linking it to the Feast of St. Joseph, which celebrates Joseph of Nazareth, father of Jesus. Father's Day is commonly celebrated in Germany by men loading wagons with beer and heading off into the woods. In Russia, Father's Day overlaps with their Defender of the Fatherland Day. So, while fathers are honored, many march in military parades in their hometowns on the same day.

Read on to learn more about Father's Day in the U.S. and see when Father's Day falls in other countries.

History of Father’s Day in the United States

Father's Day was first celebrated in the U.S. on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington, after a woman campaigned hard to have an official equivalent to Mother's Day for male parents. Her father, William Jackson Smart, had been a Civil War veteran who raised six children on his own. Her idea was inspired by a West Virginia woman who had successfully established Mother's Day in 1908.

The holiday's establishment met with resistance over the years, primarily due to the commercialism of holidays. In the 1920s and 1930s, a movement arose to combine Mother's Day and Father's Day to form Parent's Day. The attempt failed, and commercialism won out. It was around the Great Depression that struggling retailers and advertisers needed a boost to save their businesses. Father's Day was promoted as a "second Christmas for men," and sales increased for neckties, hats, socks, sporting goods, and more. By World War II, Father's Day was billed to honor American troops and support the war effort.

Father's Day remains big business in the U.S. According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent about $20.1 billion in 2021 for Father's Day.

How Many Countries Celebrate Father’s Day?

Every country honors fathers in their own way. Fifty-two countries in the world share Father's Day on the same day as the U.S.

United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom

The date varies in these countries, but it always falls on the third Sunday in June.

• 2022: June 19
• 2023: June 18
• 2024: June 16

Austria and Belgium

These two countries are aligned with each other (but not many others) on when to celebrate Father's Day.

• 2022: June 12
• 2023: June 11
• 2024: June 9

New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand

These nations all celebrate Father's Day on the first Sunday of September.

• 2022: September 4
• 2023: September 3
• 2024: September 1

Samoa and Brazil

August is the month to honor dads in these two countries.

• 2022: August 14
• 2023: August 13
• 2024: August 11

Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden

Much of Scandinavia celebrates Father's Day on the second Sunday in November.

• 2022: November 13
• 2023: November 12
• 2024: November 10

Countries Where Father's Day is Celebrated Annually on March 19

These seven countries all share a March tradition of when to celebrate Father's Day:

• Andora
• Bolivia
• Honduras
• Italy
• Liechtenstein
• Portugal
• Spain

Other Countries' Father's Day Dates

Each of these countries has picked its own date to celebrate Father's Day. Some are calendar-based and some are on the same date each year.

• Germany: 39 days after Easter
• Romania: second Sunday in May
• Russia: Feb. 23 each year
• Egypt: June 21 each year
• El Salvador: June 17 each year
• Guatemala: June 17 each year
• Haiti: last Sunday in June
• Jordan: June 21 each year
• Lebanon: June 21 each year
• Lithuania: first Sunday in June
• Nicaragua: June 23 each year
• Poland: June 23 each year
• Syria: June 21 each year
• Uganda: June 21 each year
• Dominican Republic: last Sunday in July