Remembrance Sunday 2020 in the UK

Is Remembrance Sunday a Public Holiday in the UK?

Remembrance Sunday is not a public holiday and falls on ഞായർ, 8 November 2020 in the United Kingdom. It also follows regular Sunday opening hours.

Remembrance Sunday History

Remembrance Sunday history holds relevant significance and commemorates the beginning of its observance. After the conclusion of the first World War, the first commemoration ever took place at Buckingham Palace was when King George V hosted a "Banquet in Honour of The French Republic’s President". It was on 11 November 1919 at 11 AM that a two minute silence was observed in honour of the departed souls.

Ultimately, it came to be known as the Armistice Day and later on Poppy Day as afterwards, the Royal British Legion started the sale of “Remembrance Poppies” so as to collect funds and aids for ex-service men. But, during the 1920s and 1930s, remembrance events went through some political undercurrents. Some believed that the Armistice Day was meant to recognize the horrors of war, while others believed that it is a day to honour the military service. Shortly after, the Second World War began and the observing rituals were shifted to take place on a Sunday which precedes 11 November so as to avoid any disruption in the production of necessary war materials.

In 1945, during the month of May, the new government sought consultation from the churches along with the British Legion to decide about the future of this observance. Coincidentally, Armistice Day in the year 1945 arrived on a Sunday. But some believed that observing the remembrance on this day would completely negate the struggles and challenges of the second World War. Eventually, the Archbishop of Westminster offered a proposal that the second Sunday which arrives in the month of November should be observed as Remembrance Sunday, which was publicly accepted by the Home Office in January 1946.

Public Life on Remembrance Sunday

Remembrance Sunday is an observance and not a festival. And to top it all, it falls on a Sunday. Business activities which remain active on this day get paused at 11 am as each and every native of the UK observe silence for a duration of 2- 3 minutes in memoriam of the ones who have sacrificed their lives in wars and other conflicts.

A national ceremony is organized in the capital London, at the Cenotaph located in Whitehall. The ceremony begins with a two minutes silence, where the royal family also gathers to participate in the observance. At the Whitehall, the Queen leads the ceremony when she honours the fallen warriors of Wars. This ceremony is televised nationally and becomes the primary highlight of this day.

Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday

While Remembrance Sunday remains the primary day to mourn for the fallen ones in wars, Armistice Day as it has been already mentioned, is taken into account as an additional day for the commencement of the same (dedicated to the ones who lost their lives in WWI).

As the Poppy remains an important symbol for both of these days, poppy wreaths are witnessed which are displayed as the memorial sites. It should not be forgotten that Armistice Day is also known as Poppy Day. It is seen that people wear a poppy flower while attending the memorial service on the day of Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

Special Highlights of Remembrance Sunday

1. The Royal family and other dignitaries present at the ceremony organized at Cenotaph, offer the poppy wreaths to the fallen heroes of war.
2. Some other significant observances also take place across the nation. For instance, the Scottish War Memorial located in Edinburgh also makes grand arrangements for this observance.
3. An artillery piece is fired when the ceremony begins and ends.
4. Church services also halt for a while and most of them are seen incorporating silence for two minutes.
5. Members of ex-servicemen organisations, the Guides and Scouts, Boy’s Brigade, Salvation Army and the St John Ambulance all of them come together to take part in the ceremony.
6. In recent times, the Overseas Territories under the British Empire also submitted a request to lay their own wreath, to which the Labour Government agreed that the representative of all 14 such territories can lay wreaths rather than the State Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs doing it for them. This permission was granted in the year 2001.

Remembrance Sunday Observances

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