World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day
Next: May 8, 2027
Thank the volunteers who come when called.
The story
Where it comes from
World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day falls on 8 May, the birthday of Henry Dunant, born in Geneva in 1828. In 1859 Dunant saw the wounded of the Battle of Solferino left without care; he organised local people to help them, then wrote A Memory of Solferino, calling for volunteer relief societies in every country. In 1863 a committee of five in Geneva, Dunant among them, founded what became the International Committee of the Red Cross. The first International Red Cross Day was held on 8 May 1948, and the day took its present name in 1984.
How it's celebrated
Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, present in nearly every country, use the day to thank their volunteers, welcome new ones and remind people of the movement's principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality. It is a good day to learn first aid, give blood, or simply thank a volunteer.
Did you know
- Dunant shared the very first Nobel Peace Prize, in 1901, with the French peace campaigner Frédéric Passy.
- Charles Dickens published long extracts from A Memory of Solferino in his magazine All the Year Round.
- The Malaysian Red Crescent began in 1948 as a branch of the British Red Cross; an Act of Parliament changed its name and emblem from the red cross to the red crescent in 1975.
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