Festa della Repubblica - June 2, Italy's national day since 1946
Italy's Festa della Repubblica on June 2 marks the 1946 institutional referendum in which Italians voted to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic. A national public holiday, observed with a military parade on the Via dei Fori Imperiali in Rome.
Next observed in IT - Festa della Repubblica
Federal holidayPublished October 15, 2026
- Observed in
- Where observed
- When
- June
- Frequency
- Same date every year
- Days off
- 1 day (national)
- Public status
- Public holiday (banks, government, most businesses closed)
Italy\'s Festa della Repubblica on June 2 marks the 1946 institutional referendum in which Italians voted to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic. A national public holiday, observed with a military parade on the Via dei Fori Imperiali in Rome and the Frecce Tricolori flyover. The President of the Republic presides.
The one-line summary
National public holiday on June 2, observed every year. Commemorates the 1946 institutional referendum that ended the monarchy and established the Italian Republic. Federal category, standard tier.
Origin
The referendum of June 2, 1946 was called after the end of the Second World War to decide the form of the Italian state. The Allied liberation of Italy in 1943-1945 and the fall of Mussolini\'s Fascist regime had discredited the monarchy of the House of Savoy, which had collaborated with the Fascist government. The referendum asked Italian voters a single question: monarchy or republic?
The result, on a turnout of approximately 89 percent, was 12,717,923 votes for the republic and 10,719,284 for the monarchy. The referendum law provided for the immediate departure of the king if the republic won; King Umberto II left Italy on June 13, 1946, and the House of Savoy went into exile. The Constituent Assembly drafted the republican Constitution of Italy, which took effect on January 1, 1948.
June 2 was first celebrated as a national holiday in 1947. It was briefly demoted to a movable working-holiday in 1977 during a period of austerity and was restored as a fixed national holiday in 2001.
When it falls
June 2, every year. Festa della Repubblica is a fixed Gregorian date and does not move. In 2026 it falls on a Tuesday, in 2027 it falls on a Wednesday, and in 2028 it falls on a Friday. The day anchors the Italian civic calendar in early summer.
How it is observed
The principal ceremony is the military parade on the Via dei Fori Imperiali in Rome, featuring infantry, cavalry, and aircraft flyovers. The parade includes the Frecce Tricolori, the Italian Air Force aerobatic demonstration team, which closes the parade with a flyover trailing the Italian tricolour smoke. The President of the Republic presides and lays a wreath at the Altare della Patria (the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier) in Piazza Venezia.
In the afternoon the President opens the gardens of the Quirinale Palace - the official residence of the head of state - to the public, with free musical performances traditionally held by the bands of the Guardia di Finanza, the Carabinieri, the Polizia di Stato, and the Italian Army. Civic ceremonies are held in cities across Italy\'s 20 regions.
Regional variations
Festa della Repubblica is observed uniformly as a national holiday across Italy\'s 20 regions. The Rome parade is the only national-level military parade; civic ceremonies in regional capitals typically consist of wreath-laying at local war memorials, speeches by regional presidents, and public concerts. Cities with significant republican commemorative sites - such as Parma, Reggio Emilia, and the Emilia region, which were awarded gold medals of military valour for their role in the resistance - host particularly large civic events.
Legal status
June 2 is one of Italy\'s national public holidays (festività). Federal government offices, banks, post offices, schools, and most private businesses close. Public transport runs on a reduced holiday schedule. Workers who are required to work on the day receive an additional compensatory rest day under most collective agreements.
The 1946 referendum in detail
The 1946 institutional referendum is the only popular vote on the form of the Italian state in the country\'s modern history. It was the first national vote in which Italian women were eligible to vote (women\'s suffrage had been granted by royal decree in 1945). Women comprised a majority of the electorate for the first time and were widely credited with delivering the republican majority.
The vote was geographically divided: the republic won majorities in central and northern Italy, while the monarchy retained strong support in the south, in Sicily, and in Sardinia. The referendum law included a constitutional safeguard: if the monarchy had won, no further referendum would have been permitted for a generation.
The House of Savoy was later barred from re-entering Italy by the 1948 republican Constitution, a provision (Article 139) that has since been the subject of referendums (in 2003, Italian voters narrowly declined to repeal the exile provision).
Festa della Repubblica by the numbers
Sources
- Government of Italy, Festa della Repubblica: governo.it
- Treccani Enciclopedia Italiana, "Repubblica Italiana": treccani.it
- Encyclopedia Britannica, "Italy - The birth of the republic": britannica.com
- Presidenza della Repubblica, Festa della Repubblica: quirinale.it