ST. PETERSBURG, June 12 (RIA Novosti, Anna Novak) - Russians are yet uncertain how to feel about today's new holiday, Day of Russia, but they will get used to it, head of the Russian state heraldry office Georgy Vilinbakhov told RIA Novosti today.
"Each state has a national holiday. Previously, November 7 was our national holiday, but now Day of Russia is. We are now living in a different state and, accordingly, are supposed to have other holidays," he said.
According to Vilinbakhov, some time has to pass to let Russian people get used to this holiday. Actually, it will become part of the national legacy only when new generations come, who were born with this holiday.
"Of course for elderly people who lived their whole life knowing May 1 as Labor Day and November 7 as Russian Revolution Day accepting June 12 as a holiday will be trouble. I am very relaxed about people still getting used to it. Some accept it, some don't, some debate the way it is celebrated. Time has to pass for us to understand what kind of holiday this is," he said.
A tradition needs generations to be recognized, the expert recalled.
"Peter the Great ordered the New Year to be celebrated on January 1, but this became a true holiday only 100 to 150 years later. Moreover, it is not in 1945 that we began celebrating May 9 as V-E day. The first time we did it was 1970, I remember. Until 1970, there were no celebrations at all," Vilinbakhov said.
"Time has to pass before people make up their minds about the holiday, and they will think for themselves of how to celebrate it," he said.
"As for me, I will celebrate June 12 as all officials do - at Moscow ceremonies. It is very important for me to oversee the heraldry used during the holiday - make some changes, see what is appropriate and what isn't," he added.
