Before 1993, Switzerland’s national day was not a public holiday. It took a vote on 26 September 1993 to make it that way.
Up until 1977, surveys showed that Switzerland’s cantons were overwhelmingly against making the day a federal public holiday. However, on 26 September 1993, 83.8% of Switzerland’s voters agreed to make the 1st of August a federal public holiday starting in 1994. The vote received the highest rate of approval in the history of federal popular initiatives, a record that still stands – other types of votes1 have received higher support but no popular initiative has passed by a higher percentage.
In Ticino, 92.9% of voters were in favour of taking the day off. Obwalden (68.0%) and Appenzell Innerrhoden (59.3%) were the only cantons with a result below 70%.
The referendum, which was approved in every canton, harmonised rules across the nation. Before, cantons had their own rules, which varied widely. In some cantons it was a normal workday, in some workers were given the afternoon off. Only workers in the cantons of Zurich, Schaffhausen, Thurgau and Ticino were given the whole day off. Since 1993, everyone has been given a full day off work.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
1 There are three types of referenda in Switzerland. The first is an obligatory referendum. These apply to decisions to change the constitution or to join certain organisations, such as the EU or UN. No signatures need to be collected. The second is an optional referendum. These occur when a sufficient number of citizens are opposed to new legislation, a recently agreed international treaty or a recent federal government decree. 50,000 signatures must be collected within 100 days for these to proceed. Finally, the third kind of referendum is a popular initiative. These aim to alter the constitution but are not run in opposition to new laws or decrees. 100,000 signatures must be collected within 18 months for these to proceed.
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