The United Nations Trust Territory known as French Cameroun achieved independence from France on 1 January 1960, and British Southern Cameroons changed status from a Trusteeship under British administration to a federated state within Cameroon on 1 October 1961.

[3] Even though it is considered a holiday, children all over the country go to schools and celebrate Unity Day usually by singing, carrying out parades or marches all around the different parts of their various cities.

[citation needed] The 47th National Day was marked in Cameroon in 2019 amidst violence in Anglophone parts of the country.

The main opposition parties, the Cameroon Renaissance Movement and Social Democratic Front, boycotted the events "in solidarity with the lives lost in the English speaking regions.

"[3] National Day festivities in the country were cancelled both in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.