Most countries celebrate their national day with military parades. Norway does it differently. On May 17, known as Syttende Mai, children lead the processions through every town and city. They carry Norwegian flags, sing songs, and eat ice cream and hot dogs. Adults cheer from the sidewalks. There are no tanks, no soldiers, and no weapons. This tradition goes back to 1814, when Norway adopted its constitution -- the set of rules for how the country would govern itself. At the time, Norway had been controlled by Denmark for over four hundred years. The constitution declared Norway an independent country with its own laws. The holiday was not always this joyful. In the 1820s and 1830s, Swedish rulers tried to ban the celebrations because they feared Norwegian patriotism. Soldiers once broke up a crowd in the city of Christiania, now called Oslo. But the Norwegian people kept celebrating anyway, and by the late 1800s, children's parades became the centerpiece. Today, Norway is a wealthy Scandinavian country known for its fjords, oil reserves, and high quality of life. The decision to celebrate with children rather than soldiers says something about the kind of nation Norwegians chose to build.