Harmony Day in Australia

Harmony day is celebrated on every 21^st of March began in 1999. The day coincides with the United Nations International Day for the elimination of racial discrimination. Harmony day is especially important for a diverse country such like Australia. In Australia, Harmony day is also a celebration of its proudly cultural diversity, a day of celebration for everyone who lives in Australia.

The ‘message’ of Harmony day is ‘everyone belongs’, it has significant meaning in Australia. Australia is home to the world’s oldest continuing cultures, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, Australia is also home to people who identify with more than 250 ancestries, an additional 20 per cent of Australian were born overseas. Mass immigration after Second World War also generated the modern culture diversity. Harmony day aims to encourage people to participate in different culture, respect cultural and religion diversity and foster sense of belonging for everyone.

The official colour for the day is orange. It was chosen because orange represents social communication and meaningful conversations in human tradition. It also plays important roles in other culture, it is the colour most associated with warmth, energy, and activity. In Asia, it is a significant symbolic colour for Buddhism and Hinduism. It also related to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect. Australian celebrate and support Harmony Day by wearing something orange, to demonstrate their support for cultural diversity.

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 of March which shares the same day with Harmony day. On the same day in 1960, police killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in South Africa. Six years after, the United Nations General Assembly called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination. Different themes are proposed each year by the United Nation, there are numerous themes such as how to combat racial discrimination, learning from tragedies to combat racial discrimination, and disqualify racism. The common feature of both days are aiming to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination, fight for democracy, and equal human rights.