The six official salute days in Sweden are:
- 28 January – HM the King’s names day
- 30 April – HM the King’s birthday
- 6 June – National Day
- 14 July – HRH the Crown Princess’s birthday
- 8 August – HM the Queen’s names day
- 23 December – HM the Queen’s birthday
The 21 gun salute is fired at five second intervals starting on the stroke of 12.00 noon. (Sundays and public holidays 13.00.)
Brief history
The custom of giving salutes on certain salute days, at certain state ceremonies and in international company dates from the 17th century, when ships fired to empty their cannons to show their peaceful intentions when approaching a port. This subsequently became a display of honour, a salute. The rules gradually became strictly regulated according to rank. Salutes were also given as passwords to announce who you were. Swedish passwords were also previously discharged by Swedish combat vessels, when they called into ports that had salute stations onshore (with a double Swedish password if the king was on board). You could also fire passwords on land in the field and from e.g. fortresses.
Rules for salutes
According to international practice a national 21 gun salute is an official mark of respect given on behalf of the nation on e.g.:
- The National Day
- Royal occasions (birthday and names day of King and Queen, birthday of the heir to the throne and in the event of births and deaths in the Royal Family)
- On state ceremonial occasions where such is decided, for instance on state visits and on the occasion of King Carl Gustav’s 60th birthday in 2006
- For the head of state and for another nation on naval visits. (In the case of naval visits, the vessel giving the salute fires a 21 gun salute for the guest nation. This salute is then returned with the same number of shots.)
On other occasions:
Smaller than a 21 gun salute can be fired on a certain falling scale (19, 17, 15 etc) as a mark of respect by a vessel in naval contexts if e.g. an ambassador, prime minister or high ranking officer comes onboard.
Honorary rifle salvos can be fired by troops at funeral ceremonies and memorial days (e.g. at the UN Monument on Djurgården in Stockholm on UN Day 24 October).
A Swedish password of 2 shots (or twice the password of 2 x 2 shots) can be fired at other ceremonies. This can sometimes be done at civil occasions, such as at the opening of festivals or wholly private events.
Salutes are also fired at PhD degree ceremonies (one shot per doctoral student).
There are a number of salute stations in Sweden, in Stockholm, (Skeppsholmen and Kastellholmen), Karlskrona, Boden Fortress, Vaxholm and Göteborg. A salute battery normally comprises four artillery pieces, for which special salute ammunition is used.
Salutes on births and deaths in the Royal Family
Births in the Royal Family are celebrated with two 21 gun salutes for the first born of the head of state or heir to the throne (with a 1 minute interval between salutes). Other births in the Royal Family are given one 21 gun salute. Salutes in Stockholm are subject to specific directions that are announced on each occasion. Salutes at other salute stations in Sweden are fired at 12.00 noon on the first normal working day after the delivery, however not Saturdays.
Funeral salutes are fired in accordance with specific directions that are announced on each occasion. These are normally a salute volley with 30-second intervals starting when the first earth is cast onto the coffin during the burial ceremony at a church. This most recent of which was the burial of Prince Bertil. If two volleys are fired, there is a 2-minute interval between volleys.