History of Mother's Day & Traditions Around the World

Anna Jarvis and the Founding of Mother's Day

The modern American Mother's Day traces directly back to Anna Jarvis of West Virginia. After her own mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died in 1905, Anna campaigned for a nationally recognized day honoring mothers, building on her mother's earlier community work through "Mothers' Day Work Clubs," which had organized public health initiatives in the years before and after the Civil War.

Anna Jarvis held the first official Mother's Day observance on May 10, 1908, at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia. Her campaign spread quickly through churches and civic groups, and by 1914 it had reached the White House: President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation officially establishing Mother's Day as a national holiday, to be observed every year on the second Sunday of May.

Jarvis Turns Against Commercialization

In one of the more surprising turns in the holiday's history, Anna Jarvis herself grew disillusioned by how quickly Mother's Day became commercialized. Within a decade of Wilson's proclamation, greeting-card companies, florists, and confectioners had built substantial businesses around the holiday. Jarvis felt this hijacked her original, more personal idea of a day for individual, handwritten expressions of gratitude, and she spent much of her later life, and a significant portion of her own money, campaigning against the very industries that had grown around the day she created. She reportedly was arrested at least once for disturbing the peace while protesting a candy sellers' convention that had co-opted the holiday's name.

Older Traditions of Honoring Mothers

The instinct to set aside a day for mothers predates Jarvis by centuries. Ancient Greek and Roman festivals honored maternal goddesses: Rhea, mother of the Olympian gods in Greek mythology, and Cybele, a Roman mother-goddess figure imported from Anatolia. In medieval and early modern Christian Europe, "Mothering Sunday" fell on the fourth Sunday of Lent, originally a day for people working away from home to return to their "mother church" for a service, which gradually blended with the custom of also visiting one's own mother and bringing small gifts. That older, church-calendar-based holiday still exists today, mostly unchanged in name, in the UK and Ireland, running on an entirely separate track from the American holiday Jarvis founded.

How Mother's Day Is Celebrated Around the World

Once you leave the United States, both the date and the customs shift substantially.

United States & Canada

Second Sunday of May. Typically celebrated with brunch, flowers, cards, and gifts; breakfast in bed prepared by family members is a widely repeated tradition. Canada adopted the same second-Sunday-of-May date as the US.

United Kingdom & Ireland

"Mothering Sunday" falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent, a date tied to the church calendar rather than a fixed calendar day, so it moves from year to year along with Easter. Traditional gifts include simnel cake, a light fruit cake historically associated with the day, and posies of spring flowers such as violets or primroses.

Mexico

Fixed on May 10 every year, regardless of the day of the week, unlike the US's weekday-based rule. It's one of the most widely celebrated holidays in the country, second in scale only to Christmas, often marked with mariachi serenades performed for mothers early in the morning and large extended-family gatherings.

Thailand

Celebrated on August 12, the birthday of the late Queen Mother Sirikit, entirely disconnected from the Western calendar date. Jasmine flowers, which symbolize a mother's pure and enduring love in Thai culture, are the customary gift, often worn as a garland or wristband.

Ethiopia

Rather than a single calendar day, Ethiopia folds a tribute to mothers into Antrosht, a multi-day family festival held in the fall after the rainy season ends, combining feasting, singing, and storytelling as extended families gather, often traveling long distances to do so.

Japan

Also observed on the second Sunday of May, similar to the US, but with its own distinct customs: carnations are the traditional flower, and children commonly give hand-drawn pictures or handmade crafts alongside a gift, reflecting a cultural emphasis on personal, handmade tokens of appreciation.

Planning what to actually give this year? See the full gift guide for ideas organized by interest and by budget.

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