Orangemen’s Day itself is actually July 12, but the holiday is marked locally on the Monday closest to the date.
It’s a provincial holiday but not a statutory one.
What makes it so special that some people in the province get a day off work while others don’t? Hard to say, but here are six things you may or may not have known about the occasion as per timeanddate.com:
1. Orangemen's Day commemorates the Battle of the Boyne, which took place in 1690 outside Drogheda, which today is located in the Republic of Ireland. Prince William of Orange won the battle against King James VII of Scotland and James II of England and Ireland. He became King William III.
2. For the most part, it is celebrated by people with a Protestant Irish or Scottish background.
3. The Battle of the Boyne has been seen as symbolic of the sectarian struggles between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland.
4. Orangemen's parades were commonplace in many Newfoundland communities by the end of the 19th century.
5. In the United Kingdom it is also known as "Orange Day,” "the Glorious Twelfth" or simply "the Twelfth."
6. In some fishing communities in Newfoundland celebrations would traditionally be held in the winter so fishermen would not lose days at sea during the cod fishing season.
