What is International Traveller and Roma Day?
International Traveller and Roma Day is celebrated on April 8th. This marks the day of the first World Roma Congress in London in 1971. The purpose of this event was to create a political platform and to develop strategies to address the Racism experience by Roma and Travellers.
The green and blue flag was adopted as the official flag for Romani people and Roma was identified as the preferred term to describe members of Roma communities across Europe (Roma, Sinti, Kale, Travellers, Dom, Lom and related groups).
It also marks the day on which the song “Gelem Gelem” was officially recognised as the national anthem of Romani people. This day was officially designated as International Roma Day at the fourth congress of the International Romani Union in 1990.
