For years, Nova Scotians had been asking for a mid-winter break. On December 5, 2013, the province introduced legislation to make the third Monday in February a brand new statutory holiday, beginning in 2015.
The next step was to give the new holiday a meaningful name and theme. To do this, the Department of Labour and Advanced Education (LAE) launched a naming campaign that engaged Primary to Grade 12 classrooms in schools across the province.
Students were asked to work together to create a suggestion for a holiday name that would instill pride in being Nova Scotian, as well as a suggestion for a remarkable person, place or event that have helped to make Nova Scotia what it is today.
Once all the entries were collected, a three-member panel was convened to review the students’ submissions and select 12 honourees to commemorate for the next 12 years.
Thanks to the students’ feedback and the panel’s input, the holiday was given the name “Nova Scotia Heritage Day” and a list of honourees was created, including Viola Desmond, who was selected as the holiday’s very first honouree.
Visit Past and Future Honourees to learn about the people, places and events that have been and will be celebrated during Heritage Day.
For many years to come, we will all have this annual opportunity to celebrate different contributions to Nova Scotia's storied past and diverse culture, and learn more about our history in the process.
Heritage Day Flag
As part of the activities for the very first Heritage Day, Nova Scotian school-aged children and youth were invited to submit designs to inspire the creation of a Heritage Day Flag.
240 drawings were received from 23 schools located across the province. Creative and colourful, each entry reflected the student-artist’s thoughts and feelings about Nova Scotia, and illustrated all the many different things that heritage can mean.
The submissions were reviewed by a panel chosen by Arts Nova Scotia, and five top designs were selected. These illustrations were then shared with the professional graphic artists at Sperry Design, who used the artwork as inspiration for the flag.
On January 19, 2016, the official Heritage Day flag was unveiled. The colours in the flag reflect freshness, growth, landscape, water, and optimism. The interlocking design suggests bringing new meaning to old constructions, as in Mi'kmaw and African basket weaving, to create something different and new. The interlocking pattern suggests a strong, enduring fabric, diversity and the connections between our past, present and future.