On Monday, August 31, Moldova celebrates National Language Day – an annual holiday since 1989.
On August 31, 1989, the Supreme Council of the MSSR proclaimed Moldavian as the official language in the “political, economic, social and cultural spheres” and adopted a law on the return of the Moldavian language to the Latin script.
On June 23, 1990, the Parliament of Moldova declared August 31 as National Language Day. Initially, the holiday was called “Day of our Romanian language.” However, in 1994 it was decided to give the holiday its current name – “Limba noastră”, which means “Our language”.
In December 2013, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova proclaimed the Romanian language the official language, citing the “prevalence of the text of the Declaration of Independence over the text of the Constitution”. At the same time, no corresponding amendments were made to the Constitution.
The name of the holiday was given by the poem “Limba noastră” written by the classic of Moldavian literature Alexei Mateevich (1888-1917), which became the text of the anthem of the Republic of Moldova in 1994.
