Constitution Day, May 17, is a day of immense celebration in Norway. Along with the patriotic celebration, students graduating high school take to the streets in colored jumpsuits and overalls in celebration of near completion of their high school careers.
The color of the pants indicate different concentrations in their schoolings, such as blue representing graduation from a business school, and red, the most common, indicating the completing of general studies. In addition to the colored pants, students also hand out cards similar to baseball cards called “Russekort.” These cards contain their name, photo and a short slogan, and are swapped among the graduates and children. The children are very eager to collect as many of these cards as they can. Throughout the day, students are seen celebrating throughout the city, very happy to have almost finished their schooling. After the celebration, students unfortunately have to return to school for their final exams.
