Pink Flamingo Day Date in the current year: June 23, 2024

Pink plastic flamingos are a common (and somewhat controversial) lawn ornament in the United States. They were designed by American artist Don Featherstone from Massachusetts. Featherstone resided in Fitchburg and worked in the neighboring Leominster, designing three-dimensional animals for Union Products, a company that produced plastic lawn ornaments.

Featherstone was hired by Union Products in 1957, fresh out of the art school of the Worcester Art Museum. The same year he was hired, Featherstone was tasked with creating a pink flamingo. He liked to use real animals as models, but since he was unable to obtain real flamingos, Featherstone based his creations on photographs from National Geographic. The now iconic lawn ornament went on sale in 1958 and quickly became popular.

In 1996, Featherstone was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize for Art for designing the pink flamingo. Interestingly, he was the first winner to personally attend the awards ceremony and accept the award. That same year, Featherstone began his tenure as president of Union Products, the position he would hold until his retirement in 2010.

As time went, pink flamingos became associated with kitsch, cheapness, and bad taste, in part due to their association with the 1972 black comedy film Pink Flamingos directed by John Waters. Some homeowners associations even ban the installation of plastic flamingos and will fine homeowners who ignore the ban, claiming that such lawn ornaments lower the real estate values of the entire neighborhood.

Despite its somewhat controversial reputation, the iconic plastic pink flamingo has its fair share of admirers. It even spawned a prank called yard flocking or flamingo flocking, which involves placing dozens of pink plastic flamingos in someone’s front yard. Fun fact: there are entire companies that provide professional yard flocking services! All you need to do is pay and give them the address – and they will do the rest.

In 2006, Union Products stopped producing pink flamingos and closed down, selling the copyright and plastic mold for the pink flamingos to another manufacturer. The next year, Mayor of Leominster Dean J. Mazzarella designated June 23 as Pink Flamingo Day to show love for the famous lawn ornament and preserve the legacy of Leominster as the birthplace of the plastic flamingo.

How can you celebrate Pink Flamingo Day? Of course, the best way would be to buy a pink flamingo to decorate your lawn or home (or gift it to someone if you already own a pink flamingo). You can also donate to a conservation charity that takes care of real flamingos (did you know that four of six extant flamingo species are threatened?). And don’t forget to take a selfie with a plastic flamingo and post it on social media with the hashtags #PinkFlamingoDay and #NationalPinkFlamingoDay to spread the word about the holiday.