The invention of the Dia de Portugal can be traced back to the nineteenth century and the transformation of Luís de Camões into the embodiment of Portugal. However, it was in the twentieth century that the day of his death became the national day, undergoing successive ideological appropriations which reflect
the political and cultural changes taking place in Portuguese society. Our analysis will focus on the process of the invention and reinvention of the Dia de Portugal, up to the final year of the presidency of Ramalho Eanes, in 1985.
