Next: 30 Sept 2027
Orange Shirt Day
Orange shirts across Canada, for the children taken to residential schools, after one girl’s new shirt was taken from her.
The colours of Orange Shirt Day
In 1973 six-year-old Phyllis Webstad, of the Stswecem'c Xgat'tem First Nation, arrived at a residential school in British Columbia wearing a new orange shirt her grandmother had bought her. It was taken away on the first day and she never saw it again. She told the story in 2013, and the orange shirt became the sign of what the schools took from Indigenous children: clothes, language, family and often their lives. On 30 September people across Canada wear orange shirts printed with the words Every Child Matters. Since 2021 the date has also been a federal holiday, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The date was chosen because autumn was when children were collected from their homes.
#F26A1BShirt orangeThe colour of the shirt taken from Phyllis Webstad.#D9541EDeep orangePrinted shirts and flags.#111111Type blackThe words Every Child Matters.Values are fair approximations, not official shades.
Also part of it, and being written: Orange (The colour of the day.), Shades of orange (Shirts vary in shade.).
Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "National Day for Truth and Reconciliation" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.