Be it email promos or mall displays, it's unlikely you've got this far into June without knowing that Father's Day is right around the corner.
Yet if you can't put your finger on the exact date, you'd be forgiven. Not only can it vary year to year, but it is also celebrated on different dates in different countries.
This year, in the UAE, Father's Day falls on June 21.
The same goes for a majority of countries, including the US, UK, India and the Philippines, as the occasion is traditionally celebrated on the third Sunday of June. It means that while the day remains consistent – a Sunday – the date for international Father's Day is constantly changing.
While it aligns with the date here in the Emirates for 2026, this is not the case every year. In the UAE – as well as Syria, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan – Father's Day is celebrated annually on June 21. Many European countries, including Croatia, Italy, Spain and Portugal, celebrate it on March 19, while Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Papua New Guinea mark the occasion on the first Sunday of September.
There isn't much information about the discrepancy, other than that countries have their own cultures and seasons, which have inadvertently influenced the date.
History of Father’s Day
The credit for the conception of Father's Day goes to a woman.
Some believe it's down to American Grace Golden Clayton, a West Virginia resident who suggested a one-time memorial to pay tribute to the 361 victims, 200 of which were fathers, of a coal-mining disaster that occurred in December 1907.
In 1908, Clayton chose July 5 as the day for the memorial service (as it was the Sunday closest to her own father's birthday). To this day, a plaque hangs outside the church in Fairmont, West Virginia, that reads "First Father's Day service".
However, this isn't commonly accepted as the start of the Father's Day tradition we have today.
Instead, it is Sonora Smart Dodd, daughter of American civil war veteran William Jackson Smart, who is heralded as the founder of Father’s Day.
Dodd's mother died when she was a child, leaving her father to single-handedly raise her and her five brothers. After hearing much praise for Mother's Day and its importance, she decided to lobby church and public officials for the creation of a separate Father's Day, an idea that was popular with both groups.
While originally supposed to take place on June 5, 1910, her father’s birthday, it got pushed to the third Sunday of the month to be more convenient for local pastors.
In the years that followed, the annual event grew in popularity, and Dodd lived to see then-US president Richard Nixon make it a national holiday in 1972. Dodd died in 1978, with her gravestone reading, "Founder of Father's Day".
A version of this story was first published on June 17, 2001
