May 17 – Constitutional Day in Tromsø

May 17 or Constitutional Day is a very special day in Norway. Luckily I was in Tromsø on this day and was able to witness the celebrations. On May 17 the signing of the constitution in 1814, declaring Norway as an independent nation, is widely celebrated with parades, marching bands, thousands of flags, and abundant junk food.

Early in the morning, buildings, streets and shop windows were decorated with Norwegian flags. The national colours red, blue and white were on display everywhere. I had been walking the streets late the night before and you would not know, that there was a major event underway. Whereas in Germany preparation for an event this scale usually would start days before, in Norway it seemed, everything is done on the fly. Even just hours before the first parades would fill the streets, everything was quiet, and only some balloon sellers had started setting up their stands yet.

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Many countries celebrate their national day with military parades. Not so in Norway. Here, it’s a day for children. From morning to afternoon ther are numerous children’s parades. I’ve watched about five throughout the day, each arranged according to age and school form. In blocks of kindergarten or school classes, the children marched by, carrying school banners and waving Norwegian flags in all sizes. All were accompanied by marching bands playing, among others, the national anthem. Local folk lined the streets, dressed up in their bunad, the traditional costume, which varies in colour and design depending on the region its wearer and his family originates from. The bunad had become quite popular and May 17 is one of the big occasions to wear it. Apart from the bands and the occasional cry out “Hip, hip!” and others replying with an enthusiastic “Hurra!”, it had been very quiet and orderly event. No music, no shouting, no accosting, no alcohol excesses in the streets. As soon as the parade had passed by, people simply dispersed, gathering in loose groups of family and friends, eating hot dogs and waiting for the next parade to start.

Barnehagen parade

Naturally, May 17 is a truly Norwegian affair. It’s the day, where the Norwegians celebrate their nation, values and their royalty. Accordingly they focus on their Norwegian-ness. Still, I found it surprising how much an-all-exclusive it is. There were only but a handful people with an obvious migration background around or even marching in the parades. In the past, some immigrant groups had voiced the wish to carry their original countries’ flags alongside the Norwegian flag and had faced fierce opposition. The bans issued on foreign flags for May 17, almost always had been immediately abolished but, their existence shows how sensitive Norwegians are about THEIR day. Similarly, it’s only since 2007 that the Sami are allowed to display their flag on May 17. I’ve only seen about two Sami flags in Tromsø, but there had been many people, who wore the traditional Sami costumes.

Another significant tradition on May 17 is the russ parade. Originally based on a Danish student tradition, the russ, the high school graduates in Norway, celebrate their end of school life. Already the weeks preceding the holiday, the graduate students can be easily recognized by their bright uniforms and hats, often individually styled. The different colours indicate the line of study, e.g. red for humanities, blue for economics, green for agriculture. Their parade quite differs from the children’s innocent marches. First of all, it involves the russebil, costly styled mini vans with enormous build-in stereos often accompanied by fog machines, providing for the right sound. Secondly, although many look a bit bleary-eyed and exhausted, due to weeks of partying and staying awake the night prior to this day, their march is the most exuberant: loud music blasting from the speakers, students dancing, shouting and waving signs. Whenever the march comes to a halt, the russ are swarmed by younger children, begging for the russekort, russ cards, a type of mock business card, containing a funny picture of the student and some spoof slogans.

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Rødruss
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Blåruss
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Svartruss
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Russ parade

 

 

 

 

 

Nationalistic? Yes, definitely. However, the non-military and general cheerful atmosphere as well as the special position of the children in the celebrations, give this day a rather harmless touch. Gratulerer med dagen!

 

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