THE ORIGIN of Father's Day is not clear. Some people believe that it began with a church service in West Virginia, United States, in 1908. Others say the first Father's Day ceremony was held in Vancouver, Washington.
Regardless of when the first true Father's Day occurred, the strongest promoter of the holiday was Mrs. Bruce John Dodd of Spokane, Washington who reportedly thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.
In early times, wearing flowers was a traditional way of celebrating Father's Day. Mrs. Dodd favoured the red rose to honour a father still living, while a white flower honoured a deceased dad. J.H. Berringer, who also held Father's Day celebrations in Washington State as early as 1912, chose a white lilac as the Father's Day flower.
MAKING FATHER'S DAY OFFICIAL
States and organisations began lobbying Congress to declare an annual Father's Day.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson approved of this idea, but it was not until 1924 when President Calvin Coolidge made it a national event to "establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations."
Since then, fathers had been honoured and recognised by their families (mainly in the U.S.) on the third Sunday in June.
In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father's Day, putting the official stamp on a celebration that had been going on for almost half a century.
