National Pink Day is celebrated on June 23th every year and if Suzzane was here this would have been her favorite holiday because she loved all things pink just like her brother Charlie does. As you might imagine, National Pink Day is a day to celebrate the meaning, history, and beauty of the pale shade of red.
Surveys in both the United States and Europe found pink to be most commonly associated with femininity, sensitivity and tenderness. From pink being a subject of recent pop culture, to interesting facts about the delightful shade throughout time, National Pink Day celebrates all things pink. After all, as Elle Woods in “Legally Blonde” once famously said, “Whoever said orange is the new pink is seriously disturbed!”
As is the case with a number of digital-age holidays, the exact origins and celebrations of National Pink Day are lost in time. What we do know is that when combined with white, pink has long been a symbol of femininity, grace, and chastity, whereas when combined with black, it calls up the prurient interests.
In reverse chronological order, starting with recent pop culture, pink as a color and word has had many uses. In the 90s-era Aerosmith song “Pink,” Steven Tyler croons, “Pink on the lips of your lover / ‘Cause pink is the love you discover…” This is an illustration of the sense of femininity and romance the color has come to represent. But believe it or not, in the old days, pink was worn by boys in infancy and was considered a “stronger” color than blue. Before the 1940s, that’s just how it was.
Even farther back, in the 1700s, we have the first use of the word “pink” to describe pale red, derived from the class of Flowers called “the pinks.” Until then, pink was simply that, a Flower, and the use of the word referred to a Flower in the sense of, “His mother is the flower of dependability,” as in, the paragon or the prime example. In fact, the character Mercutio in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” has a line in which he says, “Nay, I am the very pinck of curtesie,” of course meaning he’s the most well-mannered chap you’re likely to find!
It’s not uncommon today for men to own and wear a couple of pink dress shirts, a phenomenon that evolved in the 1980s when the browns and mustard-yellows of the 70s finally fell out of fashion. Perhaps pink business clothing was first meant as a sign of solidarity with the then-burgeoning feminist movement.
In the interest of staying sharp, staying current, let’s hear from the singer Pink on human nature. “True beauty is knowing who you are and what you want and never apologizing for it.” That’s the true attitude not only of the American songstress, but the color pink itself.
Traditions:
Pink is a soft romantic color that mostly represents femineity. The warmth of pink adds tenderness and care, according to color theory. Pink blends the ferocity of red with the Peace and soothing nature of white, representing hope and caring. It is believed that pink can calm one’s Spirit and counter aggression, neglect, and resentment.
Pink is traditionally considered to be a girly color in Western societies, but this isn’t always the case and the idea is gradually fading. In Japan, pink is associated more with men than with women, and in Korea pink represents trust. I can’t wait to let Charlie know this because he loves Pink and wears it a lot and this will stop people from making fun of him and thinking he is gay which he isn’t and even if he was it shouldn’t matter because just like you and me he is a human. For many years, pink was avoided in China as the color has Western influences, but pink is welcomed now in the Country.
LET’S CELEBRATE NATIONAL PINK DAY
- Whether you deck yourself out head to toe in pink, or just add a simple Breast Cancer Awareness ribbon to your lapel, be sure to celebrate pink in all its glory today.
- Speaking of Breast Cancer Awareness, that’s just one of the causes you can talk to friends about or make a donation to today. Anything from hanging a poster of the LGBTQ pink triangle in the break room, to becoming a yearly executive-level donor to the International Day of Pink’s coffers, it’s time to “think outside the red.”
- What proportions of cadmium red and titanium white make the best shade of pink for your painting? Don’t know? Enroll in a class, or hang out with an artist friend, and talk pink today.
FACTS ABOUT THE COLOR PINK
- ”It was in Jack London’s book “John Barleycorn” that an alcoholic first hallucinated “pink Elephants,” a phrase that is often referred to today in 12-step groups.
- “Pinking shears” do not change the color of the garment they’re used on, but rather denote the decoration of a hem with a zigzag pattern, a meaning of “to pink” (or, pierce with holes) from the Middle Ages.
- The famous trip-rock band Pink Floyd’s name was chosen by their original lead singer, Syd Barrett, as a conflation of two old-time blues artists’ names, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.
- In the MTV video for the 1997 Aerosmith song “Pink,” a portion had to be edited out because it briefly showed a woman’s bare breast.
- If the word “pink” hasn’t always been around, the color has, with the phrase “rosy-fingered dawn” appearing in Homer’s “Odyssey” in approximately 800 BCE.
WHY PEOPLE LOVE NATIONAL PINK DAY
- Whether you’re the one wearing pink or the one pink is being worn for, pink is pretty, from nails to dresses to hair, exuding an air of calm beauty laced with confidence and poise.
- Pink raises awareness for pink causes especially in a rocky political climate, our friends, colleagues, and peers who identify as LBGTQ need support and encouragement. National Pink Day reminds us that as members of American society, it’s our responsibility to join in the fight, too.
- National Pink Day is a good day for Carnations, for love notes, for subtly-hued Sunrises. Hey, it’s a holiday, right?
- We love to celebrate, and on National Pink Day a glass of Rosé Wine never hurts, either!
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
