The International Day of Catalonia Abroad is an initiative of the International Federation of Catalan Organizations (FIEC), que agrupa la majoria de centres, Catalan clubs and associations abroad. En la Trobada de Casals Catalans del Con Sud d’Amèrica celebrada el 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, la FIEC editada cada any un cartell commemoratiu. This year, el cartell és obra de Maria Andrews, resident a San Francisco. Andrews és filla de Sabadell on hi te la major part de la seva família. Actualment resideix a San Francisco (Califórnia, Estats Units d’Amèrica) set mesos l’any i a Catalunya la resta del temps. És llicenciada en Belles Arts per l’Institut d’Art de San Francisco on va estudiar fotografia amb els famosos fotògrafs Pirkle Jones, Larry Sultan i Jim Goldberg, i pintura amb Carlos Villa, Sam Tchakalian, Irene Pijoan i 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).
