Already in ancient cultures had some events and festivities for "mother goddesses", and in the seventeenth century in England, families began to devote the fourth Sunday of Lent to the English working mothers.

It was Ana Jarvis and his initiatives as responsible for the idealization of date, with the first official celebration took place on April 26, 1910, in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton. The honor was given in a delicate way, through the symbolism of two harpsichords: red was worn on the lapel of clothing for those whose mothers were alive, and orphans used white carnations.

In 1914, the then U.S. president, Woodrow Wilson, unified celebration in all states, establishing the National Day Mothers should always be celebrated on the second Sunday of May. The suggestion was Anna Jarvis's own. Quickly, over 40 countries have adopted the date.

In Brazil, it fell to the YMCA of Rio Grande do Sul's initiative celebration. The date was brought to Brazil in 1918 by the then Secretary-General of the ACM-RS, Frank Long (pictured right). Porto Alegre was the first Brazilian city to commemorate the date, on the 12th of May of the same year. Gradually, the festival has been spreading across the country and, in 1932, the holiday was made official by President Getulio Vargas. Fifteen years later, the day was included in the official calendar of the Catholic Church by Cardinal Archbishop of Rio, Archbishop Jaime de Barros Chamber.