Royal Seating Day

Royal Seating Day (عيد الجلوس الملكي) was the national accession day observed in the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz from 1930 to 1931, and later in Saudi Arabia from 1934 to 1963, commemorating the pledge of allegiance and anniversary of the succession to the country's throne by the hereditary sovereign. It was observed on 8 January and 12 November throughout the rule of King Abdulalziz ibn Saud and his successor King Saud bin Abdulalziz respectively. The celebrations were officially abrogated in 1965 when King Faisal bin Abdulaziz replaced it with the Saudi National Day.

Overview
In December 1925, with the successful takeover of Mecca, almost 24 years of military campaign by Abdulaziz ibn Saud to unite the Arabian Peninsula under a single polity comes to an end when he finally conquers the region of Hejaz which was then ruled by the Hashemite Sharifain family. On 8 January 1926, Abdulaziz was crowned as the ruler of Hejaz in the Grand Mosque compound in Mecca, thereby establishing the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz.

In December 1926, the Consultative Assembly sent a petition before King Abdulaziz, requesting to designate the day of his crowning as Hejaz's ruler in January 1926 as a national day. However, it was rejected by Abdulaziz and almost two years later, in February 1929, the Consultative Assembly again resubmitted the petition with more backing and was finally granted royal assent in September 1929.

In 1931, some conservative Wahhabi Muslim clerics from Najd objected to the observance of the Royal Seating Day as they regarded the celebration of non-religious festivals as an innovation and imitation of the disbelievers. As a result, the celebrations were cancelled in 1932 and 1933, also because it overlapped with the Islamic month of Ramadan. However, celebrations continued from 1934 in the aftermath of the establishment of Saudi Arabia and lasted until the death of Abdulaziz in 1953.

In 1953, Saud bin Abdulaziz was crowned as the new monarch of Saudi Arabia upon the death of Abdulaziz. Three days later, he visited Mecca on 12 November 1953 and received the pledge of allegiance from local tribal leaders in the Grand Mosque compound. Saud designated November 12 to be the new ascension day from 1954.

In November 1964, Saud bin Abdulaziz stepped down from the position of king, paving the way for his brother Faisal bin Abdulaziz to become the new ruler. In August 1965, three months before his accession anniversary, King Faisal issued a royal decree that made 23 September the new national day in order to commemorate the day on which the official unification of Saudi Arabia took place in 1932.