Google Doodle celebrates UAE Father's Day
21 June, 2022
The UAE is marking Father's Day on Tuesday and, to celebrate the occasion, Google has unveiled its annual Doodle to the Mena region, as Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan also pay homage to dads.
The Doodle is an illustration of a father and child's hands, circling through various skin colours to mark the diversity of Google's reach. They are holding hands, painting together and one shows an elderly hand on a walking stick, with the younger placed on top.
It is the same Doodle that has been used throughout the world over the past few weeks, as various countries celebrate Father's Day on different days.
Information on the illustrator is not being shared but the Google reach is, with a map showing it is visible across the region, from Morocco to Oman.
On May 26, it was visible in Germany, while on June 5 it was seen in Lithuania and Switzerland, and on June 19 it was in the UK, India, parts of Africa and South America, to name a few. It is similar to the Doodle used on Mother's Day this year, as it showed a rotating series of illustrations of a child and mother's hands in pastel and earthen hues. They hold hands, read braille, wash under a tap and tend to a plant.
Why is Father's Day celebrated on different dates?
While Father’s Day did not become an official holiday in the US until the 1970s, the first event to honour fathers was held in 1908, organised by Grace Golden Clayton in Fairmont, West Virginia.
Clayton organised a special event for the children of the victims of the 1907 Monongah mining disaster, which killed 361 men, 250 of which were fathers.
However, it was former US president Lyndon Johnson who issued the first presidential proclamation honouring fathers in 1966, declaring the third Sunday in June Father’s Day. Six years later, his successor Richard Nixon established the day as
a national holiday, writing it into US law.
Several countries joined the US in celebrating Father’s Day on the third Sunday of June, including the UK, Canada, Chile, France, Greece, Georgia and India.
While China now celebrates Father’s Day in line with the UK and the US, it was originally held on August 8, as the Mandarin word for eight is “ba”, making the eighth day of the eighth month “ba ba”, which is a term used colloquially in the country for “daddy”.
In Australia, Father’s Day is marked on the first Sunday of September, which coincides with the first Sunday of spring, while in Germany, Father’s Day, or Vatertag, is marked on a Thursday, 40 days after Easter.
In Brazil, Father’s Day is marked on the second Sunday of August, chosen in honour of Saint Joachim, the patron saint of fathers, who according to Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox traditions, was the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
In Italy, Bolivia and Croatia, Father’s Day is marked on March 19 to coincide with the Roman Catholic celebration of Saint Joseph’s Day.
Regional Google Doodles
There have been numerous Google Doodles paying homage to people and events in the region over the past few years.
Most recently, the life of doctor Saniya Habboub was celebrated, commemorating her graduation from medical school on June 10, 1931.
Born in 1901 to a Lebanese leather merchant and Turkish mother, Habboub was one of the first female doctors from Lebanon to study medicine abroad, in the US.
When she returned to Beirut she opened her own practice, inspiring other Lebanese girls and women to pursue an education of their own, according to Google's description.
The Doodle could be seen on devices across the Mena region.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com