National Unity Day in Russia is a relatively new holiday that celebrates an old event. Unity Day was first marked in 2005 to commemorate a November 1612 uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian occupation force in Moscow. There has been much controversy surrounding the holiday. Some say that President Putin instituted it as a way to deflect from his abolishment of a Nov. 7 holiday celebrating the October 1917 revolution. For years this holiday had been in flux, and was was renamed the Day of Reconciliation and Accord during the Yeltsin era. Putin finally deleted it altogether and instituted Unity Day as a way to celebrate all things Russian. The controversy continued with the way Unity Day has been celebrated, with criticism focusing on the neo-Nazi groups using it as a way to spread their message.

November 4 is also the feast day for Our Lady of Kazan, the holy icon most associated with the Russian Orthodox Church. Though the day’s celebrations do not center on the religious figure, it is the hope of some that Russians will eventually see Nov. 4 as a way to celebrate their heritage and strength.