April 8 – International Roma Day: meaning, symbols and ideas for celebration

On April 8, the Roma community around the world celebrates its culture, history and identity. The day is celebrated to the tune of the anthem “Dželem, dželem”, with the flag with a blue-green background and a red wheel, and with respect for the rich cultural heritage of the Roma. International Roma Day is more than a holiday – it is an expression of recognition, dignity and the pursuit of equality.

On April 8th, we mark the holding of the first International Roma Congress, which began on this date in 1971 in London. It adopted several key symbols for contemporary Roma identity:

  • the Roma flag: today it is well known – the blue and green stripes (symbolizing the blue sky and green grass) and the red Indian wheel “chakra” (symbolizing the Indian origin of the Roma and the long journey to Europe). It was the participants in the First International Roma Congress who decided that this would be the Roma flag (other variants had been used before);
  • the anthem of the Roma: the song “Dželem, dželem” (“I wandered, I wandered”). The song was well known to the Roma in the Balkans (it was also popular in Bulgaria) long before the London congress. One of its organizers, the Serbian Roma Zharko Jovanović, authorized/changed the text to include the memory of the “Black Squadrons” and the times of the Holocaust, as well as the opening of the roads for the modern Roma movement. It is this text that has been adopted as the Roma anthem;
  • the appeal to all governments, countries and organizations to use the name “Roma” instead of “Gypsies”, “Gypsies” etc. In fact, the name “Roma” was literally “chosen”, since then and today there are many Roma groups living in Europe, some of which use other self-names (Sinti, Kalo, Beash/Rudari and a number of others). This is an important feature of modern Roma identity – it does not deny, but includes the many identities of the different Roma groups. Therefore, the European Commission, the Council of Europe and many other international organizations use the name “Roma” as an umbrella term
  • Honoring the memory of the Roma who died in the Holocaust by laying flowers and dropping them into running water (river, sea)
  • Preparation of a board/poster/materials with information about the Holocaust and the Roma who died during the Holocaust, information about the Roma who survived the Holocaust; information about the Roma in Bulgaria, Roma culture, etc.
  • Organizing a program for April 8
  • Presentation of an exhibition with traditional costumes and objects from the daily life of the Roma
  • Presentation of an exhibition with old photographs showing the life of the Roma.
  • “Exhibition” of diplomas of Roma who have completed higher education in various fields
  • Meeting discussion with successful Roma
  • Screening and discussion of films related to Roma and the Holocaust

Anyone can join in. If you want to organize an initiative dedicated to April 8, you can use materials created or collected by the Amalipe Center.

Anyone who joins in celebrating April 8th can then send us information at amalipe.edu@gmail.com, as well as share information in the Facebook group Amalipe – Veliko Turnovo.

The campaign is carried out with the support of the Swiss-Bulgarian Cooperation Program, Civic Engagement and Transparency Mechanism (CET) 2024-2029. The views and opinions expressed are entirely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the governments of Switzerland and Bulgaria.