The International Day of Catalonia Abroad is an initiative of the International Federation of Catalan Organizations (FIEC), which groups the majority of centers, Catalan clubs and associations abroad. In the Meeting of Catalan Houses of the Con South of America held on 1997 in the Argentine city of Mendoza, the FIEC presented the proposal to institute this Day. The proposal was approved by a majority, both for the Catalan communities of America and for those of Europe and the rest of the world. He 1998 the International Day of Outer Catalonia was celebrated for the first time.
He 4 March 1999, the Parliament of Catalonia approved a resolution declaring the Diada official, with the following text: “The Parliament of Catalonia urges the Government to officially establish the celebration of the International Day of Outer Catalonia for Sant Jordi, or the first Sunday after St. George, if not this day falls on Sunday, and in the framework of its powers, to give public prominence to this celebration”. In this way, the Government of Catalonia, at their meeting of the day 6 April of the same year 1999, adopted the agreement official statement on this Day.
Since the creation of the International Day of Outer Catalonia, the FIEC publishes a commemorative poster every year. This year, the poster is the work of Maria Andrews, resident a San Francisco. Andrews is a daughter of Sabadell where most of her family lives. He currently resides in San Francisco (California, United States of America) seven months a year and in Catalonia the rest of the time. She has a degree in Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute where she studied photography with the famous photographers Pirkle Jones, Larry Sultan i Jim Goldberg, and painting with Carlos Villa, Sam Tchakalian, Irene Pijoan and Pat Klein.
In previous editions, the commemorative poster for the International Day of Outer Catalonia has been made by the artists Ràfols Casamada (1998), Antoni Clavé (1999), Josep Guinovart (2000), Chantal Ripol (2001), Roser Capdevila (2002), Sergi Mas (2003), Maria Girona (2004), Pilar Alférez Pinós (2005), Antoni Tàpies (2006), Núria Muñoz Ginesta (2007), Carles Ballesteros (2008) and, year, Maria Andrews (2009).