Holidays on 7th January

Distaff Day

It is an unofficial holiday in catholic nations, celebrated the day after Epiphany and sometimes called Roc or Rock Day. The term distaff or roc is used in spinning which was the medieval symbol of women’s work. In many European cultural traditions, women resumed their household work after the twelve days of Christmas. Women of all classes would spend their evenings spinning on the wheel. During the day, they would carry a drop spindle with them. Spinning was the only means of turning raw wool, cotton or flax into thread, which could be woven into cloth. Often the men and women would play pranks on each other during this celebration, as described in the poem “St. Distaff’s Day” which was written by Robert Herrick.

Tricolour Day

This day is the flag day of Italy, established by Law 671 on 31st December 1996, in time to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Reggio nell’Emilia of the Italian Flag. It is intended as a celebration and not a public holiday. The official celebration is held in Reggio Emilia, the city where the Italian tricolour was first adopted by an Italian sovereign state, the Cispadene Republic, on 7th January 1797.

Ghana Constitution Day

This is a public holiday, observed for the first time as this in 2019, to mark the effect of the 1992 Constitution and the birth of the Fourth Republic. The 1992 Constitution came into the force for the Fourth Republic of Ghana on this day in 1993, following its overwhelming approval in a referendum held on 28th April the year before.