Australia Day

Culture of origin: National · National holiday

Holiday sources: Australia (national)

On 26 January 1788 the First Fleet of 11 ships under Captain Arthur Phillip anchored at Sydney Cove, sent from England to set up a penal colony, and the British flag was raised on shore. The name Australia Day and its date were settled in 1935 and fixed in every state in 1994. Since at least 1938, when the first Day of Mourning was held, Aboriginal Australians and others have also kept the day as a day of protest against the colonisation that took their land.