On 18th March 1948, during a Netherlands-Surinam-Curaçao conference in the Hague, the seeds of independence and a National Day for Aruba were sown by then Aruban leader Shon A.
Eman presented a petition signed by more than 2000 Arubans in favor of independence.
Almost thirty years later during a parliamentary session on 16th March 1976, it was agreed that March 18th would be Aruba's National Day to celebrate Aruba's national anthem and flag.
This was celebrated for the first time in 1976.
