diff --git a/docs/source/traits_api_reference/trait_types.rst b/docs/source/traits_api_reference/trait_types.rst
index 5888db3a9..66a883da7 100644
--- a/docs/source/traits_api_reference/trait_types.rst
+++ b/docs/source/traits_api_reference/trait_types.rst
@@ -252,7 +252,8 @@ Traits
 .. autoclass:: WeakRef
    :show-inheritance:
 
-.. autodata:: Date
+.. autoclass:: Date
+   :show-inheritance:
 
 .. autodata:: Datetime
 
diff --git a/traits-stubs/traits-stubs/trait_types.pyi b/traits-stubs/traits-stubs/trait_types.pyi
index a2914c976..5728fd071 100644
--- a/traits-stubs/traits-stubs/trait_types.pyi
+++ b/traits-stubs/traits-stubs/trait_types.pyi
@@ -605,12 +605,14 @@ class WeakRef(Instance):
         ...
 
 
-class Date(_BaseInstance[datetime.date]):
 
-    # simplified signature
+_OptionalDate = Optional[datetime.date]
+
+class Date(_TraitType[_OptionalDate, _OptionalDate]):
     def __init__(
             self,
             default_value: datetime.date = ...,
+            allow_datetime: bool = False,
             **metadata: _Any,
     ) -> None:
         ...
diff --git a/traits-stubs/traits_stubs_tests/examples/Date.py b/traits-stubs/traits_stubs_tests/examples/Date.py
index 23544e367..b7bdb2db4 100644
--- a/traits-stubs/traits_stubs_tests/examples/Date.py
+++ b/traits-stubs/traits_stubs_tests/examples/Date.py
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ class TestClass(HasTraits):
 obj = TestClass()
 obj.t = datetime.datetime.now()
 obj.t = datetime.datetime.now().date()
-obj.t = "sometime-string"
 
 obj.t = datetime.datetime.now().time()  # E: assignment
+obj.t = "sometime-string"  # E: assignment
 obj.t = 9  # E: assignment
 obj.t = []  # E: assignment
diff --git a/traits/tests/test_date.py b/traits/tests/test_date.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fa494ac66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/traits/tests/test_date.py
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+# (C) Copyright 2005-2021 Enthought, Inc., Austin, TX
+# All rights reserved.
+#
+# This software is provided without warranty under the terms of the BSD
+# license included in LICENSE.txt and may be redistributed only under
+# the conditions described in the aforementioned license. The license
+# is also available online at http://www.enthought.com/licenses/BSD.txt
+#
+# Thanks for using Enthought open source!
+
+"""
+Tests for the Date trait type.
+"""
+
+import datetime
+import unittest
+
+from traits.testing.optional_dependencies import requires_traitsui, traitsui
+
+from traits.api import Date, HasStrictTraits, TraitError
+
+
+#: Unix epoch date.
+UNIX_EPOCH = datetime.date(1970, 1, 1)
+
+#: Windows NT epoch
+NT_EPOCH = datetime.date(1600, 1, 1)
+
+
+class HasDateTraits(HasStrictTraits):
+    #: Simple case - no default, no parameters, no metadata
+    simple_date = Date()
+
+    #: Date with default
+    epoch = Date(UNIX_EPOCH)
+
+    #: Date with default provided via keyword.
+    alternative_epoch = Date(default_value=NT_EPOCH)
+
+    #: Datetime instances prohibited
+    datetime_prohibited = Date(allow_datetime=False)
+
+    #: Datetime instances allowed
+    datetime_allowed = Date(allow_datetime=True)
+
+
+class TestDate(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_default(self):
+        obj = HasDateTraits()
+        self.assertEqual(obj.simple_date, None)
+        self.assertEqual(obj.epoch, UNIX_EPOCH)
+        self.assertEqual(obj.alternative_epoch, NT_EPOCH)
+
+    def test_assign_date(self):
+        test_date = datetime.date(1975, 2, 13)
+        obj = HasDateTraits()
+        obj.simple_date = test_date
+        self.assertEqual(obj.simple_date, test_date)
+
+    def test_assign_non_date(self):
+        obj = HasDateTraits()
+        with self.assertRaises(TraitError) as exception_context:
+            obj.simple_date = "1975-2-13"
+        message = str(exception_context.exception)
+        self.assertIn("must be a date or None", message)
+
+    def test_assign_datetime(self):
+        # By default, datetime instances are permitted.
+        test_datetime = datetime.datetime(1975, 2, 13)
+        obj = HasDateTraits()
+        obj.simple_date = test_datetime
+        self.assertEqual(obj.simple_date, test_datetime)
+
+    def test_assign_none(self):
+        # This is a test for the current behaviour. There may be an argument
+        # for optionally disallowing None. Note that specifying
+        # allow_none=False in the trait definition does not work as expected.
+        # (Ref: enthought/traits#495)
+        obj = HasDateTraits(simple_date=UNIX_EPOCH)
+        obj.simple_date = None
+        self.assertIsNone(obj.simple_date)
+
+    def test_allow_datetime_false(self):
+        test_datetime = datetime.datetime(1975, 2, 13)
+        obj = HasDateTraits()
+        with self.assertRaises(TraitError) as exception_context:
+            obj.datetime_prohibited = test_datetime
+        message = str(exception_context.exception)
+        self.assertIn("must be a non-datetime date or None", message)
+
+    def test_allow_datetime_true(self):
+        test_datetime = datetime.datetime(1975, 2, 13)
+        obj = HasDateTraits()
+        obj.datetime_allowed = test_datetime
+        self.assertEqual(obj.datetime_allowed, test_datetime)
+
+    @requires_traitsui
+    def test_get_editor(self):
+        obj = HasDateTraits()
+        trait = obj.base_trait("epoch")
+        editor_factory = trait.get_editor()
+        self.assertIsInstance(editor_factory, traitsui.api.DateEditor)
diff --git a/traits/trait_types.py b/traits/trait_types.py
index 050d08530..b977a2ae9 100644
--- a/traits/trait_types.py
+++ b/traits/trait_types.py
@@ -4238,8 +4238,54 @@ def resolve_class(self, object, name, value):
         self.klass = klass
 
 
-#: A trait type for datetime.date instances.
-Date = BaseInstance(datetime.date, editor=date_editor)
+class Date(TraitType):
+    """ A trait type whose value must be a date.
+
+    The value must be an instance of :class:`datetime.date`. Note that
+    :class:`datetime.datetime` is a subclass of :class:`datetime.date`, so
+    by default instances of :class:`datetime.datetime` are also permitted.
+    Use ``Date(allow_datetime=False)`` to exclude this possibility.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    default_value : datetime.date, optional
+        The default value for this trait. If no default is provided, the
+        default is ``None``.
+    allow_datetime : bool, optional
+        If ``False``, instances of ``datetime.datetime`` are not valid
+        values for this Trait. The default is ``True``.
+    **metadata: dict
+        Additional metadata.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, default_value=None, *, allow_datetime=True, **metadata):
+        super().__init__(default_value, **metadata)
+        self.allow_datetime = allow_datetime
+
+    def validate(self, object, name, value):
+        """ Check that the given value is valid date for this trait.
+        """
+        if value is None:
+            return value
+        if isinstance(value, datetime.date):
+            if self.allow_datetime or not isinstance(value, datetime.datetime):
+                return value
+
+        self.error(object, name, value)
+
+    def info(self):
+        """
+        Return text description of this trait.
+        """
+        if self.allow_datetime:
+            return "a date or None"
+        else:
+            return "a non-datetime date or None"
+
+    def create_editor(self):
+        """ Create default editor factory for this trait.
+        """
+        return date_editor()
 
 
 #: A trait type for datetime.datetime instances.