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National Love Your Red Hair Day

Fun · November 5

A day for red hair and the people who have it, from copper and auburn to strawberry blond, and for the color itself.

National Love Your Red Hair Day falls on Thursday, November 5, 2026. That is 9 days away.

Red hair comes in more shades than the name suggests. Copper, auburn, ginger, strawberry blond and deep burgundy brown all count, and two redheads standing side by side rarely match.

The color comes from a pigment called pheomelanin. Most people with natural red hair inherit it through a recessive gene, which is why it can skip a generation and then turn up in a family photo out of nowhere. It is one of the less common natural hair colors, and it often comes paired with fair skin and freckles, though not always.

Red hair also changes over a lifetime. Bright childhood ginger can soften toward auburn, and red hair tends to fade to a pale sandy color with age rather than going straight to gray.

People mark the day simply. Redheads post photos, swap stories about the nicknames they collected in school, and compare shades with siblings. Others take a moment to appreciate the redheads they know, or look at old paintings where artists clearly loved working with that color. Some people with dyed red hair join in too, which seems fair given how much effort the color takes to keep.

If you have red hair, a sunny afternoon is when it shows best. The color can look almost brown indoors and then light up like a struck match outside.

Ways to celebrate

• Share a photo of your red hair, or a favorite redhead's, with permission.
• Compare shades of red with family members and see who matches.
• Look up paintings that feature red-haired subjects at a museum website.
• Tell a redhead friend something you like about them.

Dates

All national days on November 5

Also on November 5

• National Chinese Take-Out Day
• National Men Make Dinner Day

Categories: Fun days