Empire Day

This article is about the Imperial holiday. You may be looking for the Star Wars Rebels episode of the same name.

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"Today is Empire Day, celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of the galaxy's salvation, when our great Emperor Palpatine ended the Clone Wars and founded our glorious Empire."

―Imperial Holonet anchorman Alton Kastle^[src]

Empire Day was the day that Sheev Palpatine declared himself Emperor of the First Galactic Empire, bringing an end to the Republic.^[4] It was also the day Ezra Bridger was born,^[1] and two days before the births of Luke and Leia Skywalker on Polis Massa.^[4] From the following year on, Empire Day became a holiday marking the anniversary of the rise of the Empire.^[1] Festivities of the holiday included a parade on various Imperial-controlled planets, the playing of the Imperial anthem, "Glory of the Empire", as well as the airing of Palpatine with two Royal Guards at the Imperial Senate, but the footage used made the Emperor seem younger and more physically appealing than he actually was at the time of the speech.^[1] Attendance to the festivities was mandatory.^[5] On Coruscant, the holiday was the cap to a week of festivities known as Ascension Week.^[6]

Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]

The term Empire Day was derived from a holiday within the United Kingdom and extended throughout the countries of the Commonwealth, celebrating the anniversary of the British Empire's formation between 1902 and 1958. Coincidentally, the holiday fell on May 20, which was also the day of the UK's premiere of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, which resulted in a "revival" of the holiday of sorts.^[7]