Independence Day

Lebanese Independence Day commemorates the end of French Mandate rule in 1943. The decisive months saw Lebanon’s elected leaders assert independence, face arrest by the French authorities and then return to office amid sustained domestic and international pressure. November 22 became the national day associated with that achievement.

The anniversary is both civic and personal: official ceremonies, flags and military displays appear alongside family time and school programmes. Independence did not resolve every question about Lebanon’s political system or regional position, but the date remains the shared national marker of sovereign statehood and the opening of the modern republic’s post-Mandate era.

The constitutional crisis culminated after French authorities detained President Bechara El Khoury, Prime Minister Riad Al Solh and other leaders at Rashaya. Their release on 22 November 1943 became the anniversary date, although the final withdrawal of foreign troops occurred later. In 2026 Independence Day falls on Sunday. Lebanon’s general rule supplies no automatic Monday substitute, so the guide records 22 November and does not infer a new closure from ceremonial schedules or media announcements.