National Pink Day is on Wednesday, June 23, 2027, and it falls on June 23 every year. It’s a cheerful day to wear, eat and decorate with pink. From pale blush to bright hot pink, the color has a surprising history.
When Is National Pink Day?
It’s always June 23. It’s an unofficial fun day, not a federal holiday. Schools, offices and shops sometimes mark it with pink dress days or themed treats.
Who Started National Pink Day?
No founder or start year has been documented. The color itself, though, has a long and twisting story.
Pink was a flower before it was a color
In English, “pink” first named a flower. By the 1570s, the word meant plants in the Dianthus family, the Online Etymology Dictionary says. These include carnations and garden pinks.
The name may come from their jagged petals, which look like they were cut with pinking shears. “To pink” meant to pierce or cut a zigzag edge. That’s still where pinking shears get their name.
The word slowly moved from the flower to its color. “Pink-coloured” appears by the 1680s, and pink as a color word is recorded by 1720.
Pink once meant yellow
Here’s a twist. In the 1400s, “pink” also named a yellowish pigment used by painters, Mental Floss explains. That meaning faded as the flower’s rosy color took over.
Was Pink Once a Color for Boys?
Many people assume pink has always been for girls. It hasn’t. Smithsonian Magazine points to a June 1918 trade magazine, Infant’s Department. It said “the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl.”
Advice was mixed, though. A 1927 Time chart showed several stores recommending pink for boys, while four others said the opposite.
Historian Jo Paoletti found that gender-neutral kids’ clothes stayed popular into the 1970s and early 1980s. Pink-and-blue color coding came back strongly around 1985.
The day invites people to enjoy pink just for fun, whatever their age or style.
How to Celebrate National Pink Day
- Wear it: pick a pink shirt, tie, scarf or pair of socks.
- Eat pink: try strawberry milkshakes, watermelon, pink lemonade or dragon fruit.
- Grow it: plant carnations or garden pinks, the flowers that gave the color its name.
- Bake something rosy: tint frosting with beet juice or crushed freeze-dried strawberries.
- Snap the sky: photograph a pink sunrise or sunset and share it.
- Host a pink day: invite coworkers or classmates to dress in pink for a group photo.
- Learn the history: share the boys-wore-pink fact and see who’s surprised.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does the word pink come from?
It first named Dianthus flowers in the 1570s, possibly for their jagged petals. The color took its name from the flower.
Was pink really a boys’ color?
Some early 1900s sources said so. A 1918 trade magazine called pink the rule for boys, but advice varied and was never universal.
What does “in the pink” mean?
It means in very good health or condition. It comes from an old use of “pink” for the finest example of something.