25 de abril – The Carnation Revolution

April 21, 2026

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On the 25th of April 1974, a golpe militarmilitary coupCommunity Slow audio Play audio ended almost fifty years of ditaduradictatorshipCommunity in Portugal.

Troops had gathered overnight in Santarém and arrived in Lisbon at dawn. The Movimento das Forças ArmadasArmed Forces MovementCommunity Slow audio Play audio had issued orders not to fire, and the regime’s forces, demoralised after years of colonial war, offered little resistance. By midday, dictator Marcelo Caetano – Salazar’s sucessor – had surrendered at the Carmo barracks. As word spread, civilians poured into the streets, and it was then that the cravoscarnationsCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Plural, Masculine appeared, pressed into the hands of soldiers and placed in the barrels of their rifles. That image gave the revolution its name: a Revolução dos CravosCarnation RevolutionCommunity Slow audio Play audio . Unfortunately, four civilians were killed that day, shot by PIDE, the regime’s secret police. Still, for a day that changed an entire country, it was extraordinarly quiet.

Fifty years of censorship, political prisoners, and a colonial war that the government refused to end makes o 25 de abrilApril 25thCommunity Slow audio Play audio more than the anniversary of a coup. The revolution brought free elections, freedom of the press, and the right to vote to millions of people who had never had them. The transition wasn’t without difficulty, but the day itself is remembered with warmth rather than bitterness.

The carnation has been its symbol ever since, and you’ll still see them everywhere on the 25th: on lapels, in shop windows, and laid at monuments around the country.

Here’s some vocabulary related to this day:

• a liberdadefreedom, libertyCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
• a democraciademocracyCommunity
• o direitolaw, rightCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine
• o cidadãocitizenCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine
• as eleiçõeselectionsCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Plural, Feminine
• a constituiçãoconstitutionCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
• o regimeregimeCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine
• a censuracensorshipCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine

To learn more, listen to these Shorties (members can follow along with the translation):

• 25 de abril – a brief introduction
• Salgueiro Maia – about the captain who risked his life that day

25 de Abril, sempre!