Editing Boxing Day (section)

== Date ==
[[Saint Stephen's Day]], a [[religious holiday]], also falls on 26 December.<ref>"Boxing Day". ''American Heritage Dictionary'', Fourth Edition.</ref><ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/11_november/17/radio4_sun26.shtml |title=Radio 4 Christmas 2004 highlights |publisher=[[BBC]] Press Office |date=17 November 2004 |access-date=27 December 2020}}</ref>

In the United Kingdom, Boxing Day could not fall on Sunday 26 December. Instead, Boxing Day would be celebrated on Monday 27 December, with the preceding Sunday called Christmas Sunday. This rule was independent of the rule of bank holidays being taken in lieu. Over time Sunday 26 December increasingly became referred to as Boxing Day.

Unlike the contemporary understanding of Boxing Day itself, the associated [[bank holiday]] or [[public holiday]] always falls on a weekday. When 25 December falls on a Saturday and 26 December falls on a Sunday, the Christmas Day substitute holiday is observed on Monday 27 December, with the Boxing Day substitute holiday observed on Tuesday 28 December. When Christmas Day is a Sunday, the Boxing Day holiday is still observed on Monday 26 December, with the substitute holiday for Christmas Day observed on Tuesday 27 December.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/bank-holidays|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228122638/https://www.gov.uk/bank-holidays|title=UK bank holidays|website=GOV.UK|archive-date=28 December 2020|access-date=31 December 2021}}</ref>

The Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, which regulates UK bank holidays, does not officially name the 26 December bank holiday as Boxing Day, but states that it falls on "26th December, if it be not a Sunday."<ref name="sch1">[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/80 Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971], Schedule 1, The National Archives. Retrieved 6 December 2023.</ref>