New Delhi: Friendship Day 2022 will be celebrated on Sunday, 7 August 2022 in India. Friends form an integral part of our lives. Friendship is the most special bond between two or more people.
While International Friendship Day 2022 has already been celebrated globally, the day is observed on the first Sunday of August in India. Friendship Day 2022 is on 7 August.
Annually, the first Sunday of the month of August is celebrated as Friendship Day. This year, it falls on August 7. Interestingly, while the United Nations declared July 30 as International Friendship Day this year, India will continue to celebrate it on the first Sunday of August.
The day was first proposed in 1958 in Paraguay by Joyce Clyde Hall, the founder of Hallmark cards. Over the years, Hallmark cards made the day popular.
In 1998, in the honour of Friendship Day, Nane Annan named ‘Winnie the Pooh’ — the friendly bear seen with Christopher Robin — as the world’s ambassador of friendship at the United Nations.
It is also said that the idea of a ‘Global Friendship Day’ was conceived on July 20, 1958 by Dr Ramon Artemio Bracho when he was having dinner with a few friends in Puerto Pinasco, a town in Paraguay.
At that time, the ‘World Friendship Crusade’ was born, which is a foundation that promotes fellowship among all human beings, regardless of their race, colour, religion, etc. July 30 was celebrated as Friendship Day in Paraguay every year, which has now been adopted by several other countries.
The World Friendship Crusade requested United Nations to recognise July 30 as World Friendship Day. In 2011, the UN General Assembly decided to designate the day as International Day of Friendship, inviting all member states to observe it, too.
As mentioned earlier, India continues to celebrate it on the first Sunday of every August.
People celebrate Friendship Day by sending greeting cards, messages, wishes, and gifts to each other. They also tie friendship bands on each other’s wrists which makes the bond special. People are looking for ways to make Friendship Day grand. They want to make their best friends feel special on this day by planning surprises.
