March 25, one of the most important Greek holidays, celebrates The Annunciation of the Mother of God and Greek Independence Day. Although one event is religious and the other secular, the two are linked together by the common themes of birth and liberty. One event marks the good news that the Virgin Mary will give birth to the Son of God. The other commemorates the birth of the modern Greek state in 1921 and the proclamation that freedom would come to the enslaved Greek nation.

In the United States, city, state, and national governments issue proclamations recognizing the day. Some communities with large Greek-American populations sponsor Independence Day parades such as Baltimore/Washington, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, San Francisco and Tarpon Springs, Florida. Churches, Greek schools, and secular Hellenic organizations sponsor a variety of events. A typical program includes speeches by dignitaries about Greek history and current issues. Children in national costumes recite patriotic poems in Greek.

While costumes vary from region to region, the most common are the foustanela for a boy and the Amalia dress for a girl. The foustanela, worn by military men in the Peloponnese and Central Greece, was adopted by King Otto (the first king of Greece, 1833-1862) as the formal court dress. The costume generally includes a white pleated skirt (foustanela), a tasseled hat, blue jacket, and red shoes with pompoms (tsarouhia). The soldiers known as euzones, who guard the Tomb of Unknown Soldier in front of the parliament building in Athens today, wear this uniform. The Amalia costume, most often a blue shirt, white blouse, burgundy vest with gold trim, ad tasseled beret, was also adopted as the formal court dress by King Otto's wife, Queen Amalia. There are many other popular costumes are handed down through the generations or may be purchased in Greece...........
 

Read more about Nameday celebrations and other Greek customs in our latest
arrival "A Guide to Greek Traditions and Customs" 

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