An encyclopedia entry covering the cultural, political, civic, and institutional days of the year that use the color orange as a primary visual symbol.
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| Most widely observed civic orange day | King's Day (Koningsdag) in the Netherlands (27 April) |
|---|---|
| Key human rights orange observances | Orange Shirt Day (30 September); UN Orange Day (25th of each month) |
| Key anti-violence orange observance | National Gun Violence Awareness Day (first Friday in June) |
| Major historical and political observances | The Twelfth (12 July in Northern Ireland); Day of Freedom (22 November in Ukraine) |
| Major cultural and folk observance | Halloween (31 October) |
| Australian diversity observance | Harmony Day (21 March) |
| Medical awareness observances | Color the World Orange Day (first Monday in November); Agent Orange Awareness Day (10 August) |
| Primary visual rationale | High optical visibility, wavelength between 590 and 620 nanometers, and safety-warning connotations |
Days of the year associated with the color orange comprise a wide range of civic holidays, human rights campaigns, political commemorations, cultural festivals, and institutional spirit observances. In calendar design and public symbolism, colors serve as visual shorthand. They allow participants to signal solidarity, communicate political allegiances, or mark historical events through coordinated clothing, banners, lighting, and ribbons.
Orange occupies a specific position within color psychology and optical physics. Because the human eye perceives orange at wavelengths between approximately 590 and 620 nanometers, it offers extreme visibility against natural landscapes and built environments. Historically, this made orange the standard color for maritime lifeboats, road construction signage, and hunting safety apparel. Over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, international non-governmental organizations, national governments, and grassroots movements systematically repurposed this visibility for public awareness campaigns and civic holidays.
The symbolic meaning of orange varies depending on geographic and historical context. In Northern Europe and former Dutch territories, orange is tied to royal lineage and national identity. In North America, it has come to represent child welfare advocacy in Indigenous boarding school reconciliation, as well as civilian gun violence prevention. Internationally, the color has been adopted by the United Nations to demand the cessation of violence against women, by democratic movements in Eastern Europe to protest electoral fraud, and by educational communities to express institutional cohesion.
Monarchical, National, and Cultural Celebrations
Several national calendars include days where orange is the primary visual component of civic celebrations. These dates derive their chromatic association from dynastic history, folk traditions, or seasonal agricultural cycles.
King's Day (Koningsdag) in the Netherlands (27 April)
Koningsdag (known as Koninginnedag or Queen's Day when the reigning monarch is female) is the national holiday of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Celebrated on 27 April (or 26 April if the 27th falls on a Sunday), it marks the birthday of King Willem-Alexander. Under Queen Beatrix, it was observed on 30 April, honoring the birthday of her mother, Queen Juliana; its nineteenth-century predecessor under Queen Wilhelmina was held on 31 August.
The dominance of orange on this day stems directly from the Dutch royal house: the House of Orange-Nassau (Huis van Oranje-Nassau). The title originates from the medieval Principality of Orange in southern France. During the holiday, Dutch cities experience what is known domestically as Oranjegekte ("Orange madness" or "Orange craze"). Citizens wear bright orange clothing, dye their hair, drink orange-colored beverages such as Oranjebitter (an orange-flavored liqueur), and decorate buildings with orange bunting.
The day is officially marked by a nationwide vrijmarkt ("free market"), an unregulated street flea market where citizens sell second-hand goods without commercial taxation. While the Dutch national flag is a tricolor of red, white, and blue, national sports teams and citizens abroad wear orange as an informal expression of national solidarity.
The Twelfth (Orangemen's Day) in Northern Ireland (12 July)
In Northern Ireland, 12 July—frequently referred to simply as "The Twelfth"—is an official public holiday celebrated primarily by the Protestant and unionist communities. The day commemorates the victory of King William III (William of Orange) over the deposed Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, along with the subsequent Battle of Aughrim in 1691.
The celebrations are organized by the Loyal Orange Institution, an international Protestant fraternal organization commonly known as the Orange Order. Members, known as Orangemen, march in formal street parades wearing orange collarettes (decorative sashes) and dark suits, accompanied by marching bands playing traditional fife and drum music. Paraders carry elaborate silk banners featuring portraits of William of Orange, biblical scenes, and historical figures.
The holiday is historically contentious. The geographic routing of Orange parades through or near Irish nationalist and predominantly Catholic neighborhoods has triggered sectarian unrest and civil disorder, particularly during the decades of political violence known as the Troubles (roughly 1968 to 1998). While modern parade routes are strictly regulated by the independent Parades Commission, The Twelfth remains a polarized date within the cultural calendar of Northern Ireland.
Halloween and Autumn Harvest Days (31 October)
In modern folk calendars, 31 October is universally tied to the color orange, contrasted with black. The holiday of Halloween originated from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, a pastoral celebration marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter.
In traditional chromatic symbolism, black represents the "dark half" of the year, physical death, and the thinning of the veil between the living and the spirit worlds. Orange represents the harvest, the changing color of deciduous leaves, fires lit to ward off spirits, and autumn crops. Following the transatlantic migration of Irish and Scottish populations to North America in the nineteenth century, the native American pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) replaced the traditional European turnip as the standard vegetable used to carve jack-o'-lanterns. The vivid orange rind of the pumpkin cemented orange as the dominant commercial color of late autumn across international markets.
Human Rights, Anti-Violence, and Social Cohesion Observances
During the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, civil society groups and international bodies formally designated specific days of the year as "orange days" to raise awareness of systemic violence, historical trauma, and racial equity.
Orange Shirt Day / National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (30 September)
Orange Shirt Day is observed annually on 30 September across Canada and increasingly in parts of the United States. The day promotes awareness regarding the Indian residential school system, an institutional network established by the Canadian government and administered by Christian churches that forcibly removed more than 150,000 Indigenous children from their families between the 1870s and 1997.
The observance originated from the personal account of Phyllis Webstad (née Jack), a Northern Secwépemc author from the Stswecem'c Xgat'tem First Nation. In 1973, at six years of age, Webstad was sent to the St. Joseph's Mission residential school near Williams Lake, British Columbia. On her first day, her grandmother had purchased for her a new, bright orange shirt. Upon arriving at the institution, school administrators stripped Webstad of her clothes, confiscated the shirt, and never returned it.
In May 2013, Webstad shared her story publicly during a reunion of residential school survivors in Williams Lake. The orange shirt quickly became a grassroots emblem of the systematic stripping of Indigenous children's identity, culture, language, and personal dignity. The movement adopted the motto "Every Child Matters." In 2021, following the location of hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential school sites, the Canadian Parliament enacted federal legislation designating 30 September as a statutory holiday named the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
National Gun Violence Awareness Day / "Wear Orange" (First Friday in June)
In the United States, the first Friday in June is designated as National Gun Violence Awareness Day, opening a broader weekend of events termed the "Wear Orange" campaign. The movement was created to address the societal impact of firearm homicides, suicides, and unintentional shootings.
The campaign began in Chicago following the death of Hadiya Pendleton. On 29 January 2013, fifteen-year-old Pendleton was fatally shot in a public park on Chicago's South Side, one week after performing as a majorette in the second inauguration parade of President Barack Obama. Following her death, Pendleton's childhood friends organized a local initiative encouraging classmates and community members to wear bright hunter orange (blaze orange).
The selection of blaze orange was deliberate: it is the standardized safety color worn by American hunters in wooded areas to alert other armed individuals not to shoot them. Pendleton's friends used the color to communicate that human beings in urban neighborhoods and public spaces should be protected from gunfire. In 2015, the grassroots campaign partnered with Everytown for Gun Safety, a national gun violence prevention organization. The campaign expanded nationally, leading to hundreds of municipal landmarks, corporate offices, bridges, and municipal halls being illuminated with orange lighting on the first Friday of each June.
United Nations "Orange Day" and the 16 Days of Activism (25th of Every Month and 25 November)
The United Nations Secretary-General's campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women, launched in 2008, established the 25th day of every calendar month as "Orange Day." The monthly designation serves as a recurring call for civil society organizations, governments, and activists to highlight efforts to stop gender-based violence.
The monthly cadence builds momentum toward the primary international anchor date: 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. This date commemorates the 1960 assassination of the Mirabal sisters (Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa), three political dissidents in the Dominican Republic who were murdered on the orders of dictator Rafael Trujillo. The day marks the commencement of the "16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence," an international campaign that runs from 25 November through 10 December (Human Rights Day).
The United Nations chose orange as the unifying color for the UNiTE campaign to symbolize a bright, optimistic future free from violence against women and girls. Activists and diplomats wear orange ribbons, illuminate national monuments in orange light, and circulate informational campaigns across digital networks.
Harmony Day in Australia (21 March)
Harmony Day is held annually on 21 March in Australia. Introduced by the federal government in 1999 under the administration of Prime Minister John Howard, the day forms the focal point of Harmony Week, which encourages cultural respect, social cohesion, and the celebration of Australia's multicultural population.
The date coincides directly with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, established to remember the 1960 Sharpeville massacre in South Africa, where police opened fire on peaceful anti-apartheid demonstrators, killing 69 people. In the Australian observance, the federal Department of Home Affairs selected orange as the official color. According to administrative guidelines, orange was chosen because it traditionally signifies meaningful conversation, mutual respect, and social communication.
On Harmony Day, primary and secondary schools, community centers, and workplaces hold assemblies where participants dress in orange garments or traditional cultural attire. The holiday has generated political debate: various anti-racism advocates and sociologists have criticized Harmony Day for depoliticizing the UN's original anti-racist mandate, arguing that replacing an explicit focus on dismantling racial discrimination with a festive celebration of multicultural harmony obscures ongoing structural inequalities faced by First Nations and non-white Australians.
Political Revolutions and Commemorative Dissent Days
Orange has served as an organizing visual identifier during moments of political upheaval and nonviolent resistance against authoritarian regimes.
Day of Freedom and the Orange Revolution (21 and 22 November in Ukraine)
From late November 2004 to January 2005, Ukraine experienced the Orange Revolution (Pomarancheva revoliutsiia), a series of nationwide protests and general strikes triggered by widespread electoral fraud during the 2004 presidential run-off election between Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko.
Orange had been the official campaign color of Yushchenko's "Our Ukraine" coalition. When exit polls showed Yushchenko leading while state election officials declared Yanukovych the victor, hundreds of thousands of citizens gathered in Kyiv's Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti). Protesters established tent cities and covered the center of Kyiv in orange flags, scarves, ribbons, and tents. The sustained civil resistance led the Supreme Court of Ukraine to annul the fraudulent results and order a repeat run-off, which Yushchenko won cleanly.
Following his inauguration, President Yushchenko issued a presidential decree in 2005 designating 22 November as the "Day of Freedom" (Den Svobody), establishing an annual civic holiday to commemorate the start of the Orange Revolution. The holiday became politically contested:
- 2005–2010: 22 November was officially marked by pro-Western and democratic political groups as the Day of Freedom.
- December 2011: Viktor Yanukovych, having won the presidency in 2010, abolished the Day of Freedom by presidential decree, merging it with Unity Day on 22 January to minimize the public commemoration of the 2004 protests.
- November 2014: Following the 2013–2014 Euromaidan Revolution (the Revolution of Dignity), President Petro Poroshenko established the "Day of Dignity and Freedom" on 21 November. This modern holiday formally combined the historical remembrance of both revolutions—the 2004 Orange Revolution and the 2013 Euromaidan—into a single national observance.
The Orange Alternative (Poland, Historical 1 June)
During the 1980s in Wrocław, Poland, an underground anti-communist dissident movement known as the Orange Alternative (Pomarańczowa Alternatywa) used the color orange to challenge state totalitarianism through absurdism and surrealist street theater. Founded by Waldemar Fydrych (commonly referred to by the moniker "Major"), the group originally painted whimsical figures of dwarves wearing orange pointed hats over the gray paint that communist police used to cover up anti-regime graffiti.
The group's peak demonstration took place on International Children's Day, 1 June 1988, in central Wrocław. Termed the "Revolution of Dwarves," an estimated 10,000 people gathered wearing orange felt hats, singing traditional nursery rhymes, and handing out toilet paper and tampons (items suffering severe shortages under the centrally planned economy). When the communist police force (Milicja Obywatelska) intervened to arrest the demonstrators, they were forced into the absurd public spectacle of arresting thousands of citizens for wearing orange hats. This form of protest helped dismantle the psychological fear of state authority in the months leading up to the 1989 Polish legislative elections.
Health Awareness and Commemorative Observances
In medical advocacy calendars, various awareness days and months use orange ribbons to represent specific conditions, occupational injuries, and chemical exposures.
Color the World Orange Day (First Monday in November)
Observed annually on the first Monday in November, "Color the World Orange Day" is an international event dedicated to raising public awareness of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), also known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD). CRPS is a chronic, high-intensity neuro-inflammatory pain condition that typically affects an arm or a leg following an injury or surgical procedure.
Established as a grassroots initiative in 2014, the observance encourages patients, medical professionals, and supporters to wear orange clothing and share medical literature. Municipal landmarks—such as the CN Tower in Toronto, Niagara Falls, and bridges across Europe and Australia—have regularly participated by illuminating their structures with orange light on this day.
Agent Orange Awareness Day (10 August)
In the United States and Vietnam, 10 August is marked as Agent Orange Awareness Day. The date corresponds to 10 August 1961, the day the United States Armed Forces conducted the first operational test spray of tactical herbicides in South Vietnam under Operation Ranch Hand.
Agent Orange was a chemical herbicide and defoliant used to clear dense jungle foliage and destroy agricultural crops. The formulation was contaminated with 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), an extremely persistent and toxic dioxin compound. The day honors both military veterans and Vietnamese civilian populations who experienced severe long-term health consequences—including soft tissue sarcomas, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, type 2 diabetes, and severe congenital disabilities in subsequent generations. The observance is commemorated through advocacy for healthcare coverage, environmental remediation, and memorial services.
Ribbon Awareness Months
Several prolonged health awareness campaigns associate the color orange with particular months and specific days of medical significance:
- September (Leukemia Awareness Month): Orange ribbons are worn to signify solidarity with patients suffering from leukemia, a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow. World Leukemia Day is marked within this month on 4 September.
- October (ADHD Awareness Month): Orange ribbons and orange digital banners are used to promote educational awareness regarding Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, neurodevelopmental diagnoses, and accessible accommodations.
- Second Thursday in March (World Kidney Day): While the official ribbon combines blue and orange, orange is used to highlight renal system health, preventative screening, and organ donation campaigns worldwide.
- Late May (World MS Day): Multiple Sclerosis advocacy groups frequently incorporate orange ribbons and accessories to draw attention to autoimmune demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system.
Institutional, Academic, and School Spirit Observances
Beyond national holidays and disease awareness, orange is integrated into annual institutional calendars worldwide. Universities, preparatory schools, and athletic conferences designate specific days as "Orange Outs" or "Orange and White Days." On these dates, students, faculty, and alumni wear coordinated school colors to celebrate institutional history, foster community identity, and show athletic support.
Academic Spirit Days: St. Croix Country Day School
An example of orange serving as a foundational institutional color in education is found in the history of St. Croix Country Day School (SCCDS), located in Kingshill on the island of St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. Founded in 1964, the institution operated as an independent, non-sectarian, non-profit college preparatory school serving pre-kindergarten through grade 12 (PreK-12).
The institution maintained an enrollment of 490 students supported by a faculty of 50 educators, operating under the leadership of headmasters including William D. Sinfield. Annual tuition ranged from $7,350 to $11,000. SCCDS utilized a five-day alternating academic schedule for secondary students in grades 9 through 12, offering Advanced Placement (AP) coursework alongside modern language instruction in French and Spanish.
The school's community calendar incorporated arts and athletic traditions rooted in its official colors, Orange and White:
- Athletic Observances: The school's sports teams competed as the Tigers and Lady Tigers within the St. Croix Interscholastic Athletic Association (SCIAA). Across eight varsity sports, specific home game dates were designated as "Orange and White Days," during which the student body wore institutional colors to mark regional athletic rivalries.
- Performing Arts Traditions: In addition to its athletic calendar, the campus maintained a performing arts program featuring fall comedies or dramas and spring musicals, alongside middle and high school choirs, bands, a bell ensemble, and a steel drum band. The steel drum and bell ensembles performed in twice-yearly community presentations—the annual Christmas concert and the end-of-year spring concert.
- Institutional Transition: In 2012–2013, the economic landscape of St. Croix changed drastically following the closure of the Hovensa oil refinery, formerly one of the largest petroleum refining facilities in the Western Hemisphere. The closure prompted substantial demographic displacement and a sharp reduction in island school enrollments. In 2013, St. Croix Country Day School merged with The Good Hope School (established 1967) to form the consolidated Good Hope Country Day School (GHCDS). The merged institution retained its base of instruction on the historic 34-acre Kingshill campus formerly occupied by Country Day.
Similar institutional "Orange Days" are observed across higher education. Princeton University celebrates its annual "Reunions" weekend in late May with an elaborate parade (the "P-rade"), where tens of thousands of alumni wear bespoke jackets patterned in orange and black. Syracuse University marks annual "Orange Central" homecoming days, and the University of Tennessee coordinates "Checkerboard Neyland" football game days where stadium sections alternate between orange and white clothing.
Chronological Calendar of Notable Orange Observances
The following table provides a chronological summary of major annual days and periods associated with the color orange across civic, political, and cultural spheres.
| Date / Timing | Observance Name | Primary Geographic Scope | Origin / Initiation | Core Visual and Civic Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 March | Harmony Day | Australia | 1999 (Dept. of Home Affairs) | Celebrates cultural diversity, social cohesion, and anti-racism; participants wear orange clothing. |
| 27 April | King's Day (Koningsdag) | Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten | 1885 (as Princess's Day); current date since 2014 | Marks the monarch's birthday; nationwide Oranjegekte, street markets, and orange attire. |
| First Friday in June | National Gun Violence Awareness Day | United States | 2013 (Pendleton memorial); expanded 2015 | Advocacy against firearm violence; hunter/blaze orange clothing worn to honor shooting victims. |
| 12 July | The Twelfth (Orangemen's Day) | Northern Ireland, Scotland, parts of Canada | Late 18th century (commemorates 1690) | Loyal Orange Institution parades; Protestant and unionist historical heritage. |
| 10 August | Agent Orange Awareness Day | United States, Vietnam | Marks 10 August 1961 (Operation Ranch Hand) | Remembrance of chemical exposure, dioxin contamination, and veterans' health advocacy. |
| 30 September | Orange Shirt Day / National Day for Truth and Reconciliation | Canada, North America | 2013 (grassroots); 2021 (Canadian federal statute) | Remembrance of Indigenous residential school survivors and child welfare advocacy. |
| 31 October | Halloween | International (Western origin) | Ancient Celtic Samhain; modern format c. 19th–20th century | Autumn harvest, pumpkins, jack-o'-lanterns, and the traditional duality of light and death. |
| First Monday in November | Color the World Orange Day | International | 2014 | Promotes awareness of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) and Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD). |
| 21 November | Day of Dignity and Freedom | Ukraine | 2005 (as Freedom Day, 22 Nov); reformed 2014 | Commemorates the start of the 2004 Orange Revolution and the 2013 Euromaidan Revolution. |
| 25 November | International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women | International (United Nations) | 1999 (UN designation); 2008 (UNiTE Orange campaign) | Kicks off the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence; represents a violence-free future. |
| 25th of Every Month | UNiTE Orange Day | International (United Nations) | 2008 (UN Secretary-General) | Recurring monthly civic mobilization to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls. |
Optical and Semiotic Foundations of the Color Orange
The recurring selection of orange across disparate civic movements and historical periods is supported by underlying principles of human visual perception and semiotics (the study of signs and symbols).
In human trichromatic vision, the retina detects light through three types of cone cells: short-wavelength (S, blue), medium-wavelength (M, green), and long-wavelength (L, red). Orange light stimulates both L-cones and M-cones, with a significantly stronger response in the long-wavelength receptors. In the natural world, pure spectral orange is comparatively rare compared to greens, blues, and earth browns. Because of this rarity, the human visual cortex registers orange objects with high cognitive salience, meaning they immediately draw visual attention.
In industry and transportation, this high visibility led to the institutionalization of orange as an international warning color:
- Safety and Warning Standards: Under standards established by bodies like the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 3864) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI Z535), safety orange is designated for parts of machinery that may cut, crush, or shock, as well as for temporary hazards such as road construction.
- Hunter / Blaze Orange: Wildlife biology indicates that most North American and European game ungulates (such as white-tailed deer) are dichromatic, lacking the L-cone photopigment necessary to distinguish red and orange wavelengths from dull greens and browns. To a deer, blaze orange appears as a neutral gray-brown shade. To trichromatic human eyes, however, blaze orange stands out vividly. This contrast enables hunters to remain visible to one another without alerting game.
When civil rights organizations, public health initiatives, and anti-violence campaigns sought colors for their public observances, orange provided an established semiotic foundation. The transition from industrial warning signs to social protest days leveraged the existing cultural understanding of orange as a visual signal meaning "caution," "attention required," or "emergency."
Debates and Criticisms of Color-Based Observances
While coordinated orange days provide visual unity, they have drawn critique from political theorists, sociologists, and community activists regarding their actual efficacy and social implications.
Performative Activism and "Slacktivism"
A central critique of days like National Gun Violence Awareness Day, UN Orange Day, and Harmony Day is the phenomenon of performative activism (frequently termed "slacktivism"). Critics argue that encouraging individuals, corporations, and government agencies to wear orange shirts, illuminate corporate headquarters, or share orange digital graphics allows institutions to project moral concern without committing financial resources or enacting policy changes.
In the context of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada, Indigenous leaders have noted that wearing an orange shirt on 30 September can become an empty gesture if unaccompanied by concrete governmental action on clean drinking water advisories on reserves, the restoration of tribal land rights, and institutional funding for language revitalization programs.
Commercialization and Slogan Co-optation
As orange days gain statutory or international recognition, they risk commercial exploitation. Retail chains and third-party vendors often manufacture cheap orange apparel, accessories, and plastic novelties to profit from days such as Halloween, King's Day, and Orange Shirt Day. In Canada, this led the Orange Shirt Society to trademark Webstad's official logo and establish authorized distributor partnerships, ensuring that proceeds from official orange shirts are directed to Indigenous survivor support networks rather than commercial manufacturers.
Sectarian and Political Polarization
In regions with divided historical narratives, the public display of orange on commemorative days can heighten social division rather than promote solidarity. The parades of The Twelfth in Northern Ireland remain deeply associated with historic Protestant ascendancy, leading nationalist residents to view the display of orange sashes and banners as triumphalist. Similarly, in Ukraine between 2004 and 2014, wearing orange ribbons or displaying orange flags was viewed by pro-Russian political factions as a provocative endorsement of Western integration, prompting counter-movements to adopt opposing symbols such as the black-and-orange Ribbon of Saint George.
See also
- House of Orange-Nassau
- Orange Order
- Orange Shirt Day
- Orange Revolution
- International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
- National Gun Violence Awareness Day
- Safety orange
- Awareness ribbon
- Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
- Good Hope Country Day School
Sources
Questions people asked
What days of the year are notably associated with the color orange?
31 October (Halloween) – The undisputed global orange day for pumpkins and tacky plastic decor.
First Friday in June (US National Gun Violence Awareness Day / "Wear Orange") – Inspired by the friends of Hadiya Pendleton wearing hunter orange, heavily pushed by anti-gun-violence campaigns in the States.
22 November (Ukraine, Day of Freedom) – Commemorating the start of the 2004 Orange Revolution. Marked officially under Yushchenko, later merged into the Day of Dignity and Freedom (21 November).
Harmony Day in Australia (21 March) – Everyone is told to wear orange to mark cultural diversity and racism elimination.
And technically, every 25th of the month is declared "Orange Day" by the UN UNiTE campaign, even if only NGOs and Twitter accounts actually remember between Novembers.