National Umbrella Day is on Wednesday, February 10, 2027, and it falls on February 10 every year. It’s a nod to the folding canopy most of us only notice when we’ve left it at home. In much of the U.S., February brings sleet and cold rain, so it’s a good time to check that yours still opens.
When Is National Umbrella Day?
It’s always February 10. It’s an unofficial day, celebrated mostly online and in classrooms.
Who Started National Umbrella Day?
No founder or start year has been documented.
Background: from sunshade to rain gear
The first umbrellas blocked the sun, not the rain. Britannica notes they shaded important people in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, China and India, often as a mark of rank. The Greeks brought them to Europe as sunshades, and the Romans used them against rain.
Umbrellas faded from Europe in the Middle Ages and returned in Italy by the late 1500s. They spread to France in the 1600s and were common across Europe by the 1700s.
The Londoner who made umbrellas normal
In the mid-1700s, a man carrying an umbrella in London drew stares. Londonist reports that traveler Jonas Hanway brought one back from Paris and became the first man in the city to use one regularly.
Other men mocked him in the street, shouting “Frenchman, Frenchman! why don’t you call a coach?” He kept at it, and the habit caught on.
Why Celebrate the Umbrella?
It’s a simple design that has barely changed in 170 years and still keeps millions of people dry. The day is a chance to appreciate an everyday tool, and to replace the one with a bent rib.
Some makers from the 1800s still trade. James Smith opened his London umbrella shop in 1830, and the business still sells umbrellas on New Oxford Street.
How to Celebrate National Umbrella Day
- Fix or replace a broken one: a bent rib can often be splinted with a small metal repair sleeve from a hardware store.
- Start a lending stand: put spare umbrellas in a bucket by your office or school door for anyone caught in the rain.
- Paint a plain umbrella: use fabric markers or acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium on a solid canopy.
- Make a paper parasol: kids can fold a paper circle into pleats and glue it to a straw.
- Snap a puddle photo: on a rainy day, shoot your umbrella reflected in a puddle from a low angle.
- Dry it open: let a wet umbrella dry partly open so the fabric and ribs don’t rust or mildew.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between an umbrella and a parasol?
A parasol is a small umbrella made for shade, not rain. Britannica says parasols shaded women’s faces in the 18th and 19th centuries; many use lace, cotton or paper.
When did umbrellas get steel frames?
In the 1850s. Early ribs were cane, and Samuel Fox is credited with the steel-framed design in 1852.
Do people really lose that many umbrellas?
Yes. Londonist reports that within a year of the Central London Railway opening, 560 umbrellas were left on its trains and stations. Most were never claimed.