International Corgi Day 2024: Date, Origin, and Ways to Celebrate

Are you looking to celebrate your corgi — or corgis in general — in 2024? International Corgi Day is the perfect time to do so! This guide will help you prepare for the big day, with tips on how and where to celebrate, as well as some fun facts about this lovely breed.

International Corgi Day 2024: Date

International Corgi Day (ICD) will be celebrated on June 4, 2024, the same date as every year. In fact, this will be the fifth annual celebration in a row.

The goal of this special holiday is to show appreciation for corgis and corgi mixes around the world, as well as raise funds for corgi rescues. But is there a special reason why we celebrate it on June 4, and not another day? We contacted the International Corgi Day team to find out.

The ICD team told A-Z Animals that they “wanted [to choose] a day that wasn’t too close to national holidays or used as another online holiday.” They especially didn’t want to compete with another holiday “with a hashtag that takes over social media for 24 hours,” as they wanted their hashtag to be the one that people see, at least one day of the year.

Apart from that, they say that “the way one of [them] wrote 06/04 kind of looked like [the word] corgi.” So, it was clear that the date was just perfect — they still think so five years later.

As a side note, there’s also a similar holiday, called National Welsh Corgi Day, celebrated on March 1st. The most prominent, if not only, difference between the two seems to be that one is an international, and the other is a national holiday. Either way, why not celebrate corgis twice a year!?

International Corgi Day: Origin

International Corgi Day was founded by the Omaha Corgi Crew in 2019.

“The four leaders of the Omaha Corgi Crew (OCC), Emily, Jessica, Kelsey, and Olivia, started ICD in October 2019,” says the International Corgi Day team. The idea came to them while discussing the OCC’s upcoming events in 2020. “We wondered how we could take the OCC’s passion for philanthropy, and love of helping small, local rescues farther and ultimately outside of Omaha and our immediate community,” says the team.

That’s exactly what they did. The team says that groups from at least seven countries held their own ICD events over the last four years, while their hashtag, #internationalcorgiday, has been used more than 17,000 times since 2019. So, yes — corgis really are gaining worldwide notoriety, and it’s all thanks to the ICD team.

(Well, if you don’t count everything that famous people, like Queen Elizabeth II, have done to popularize this breed. More on that later.)

Why Celebrate?

Celebrating International Corgi Day is a great chance to show appreciation for these lovely pooches, especially rescues. After all, corgis definitely deserve to be appreciated!

This breed is known for its high intelligence, exceptional trainability, and family- and kid-friendliness. They typically have BIG personalities, which only makes them that much more fun to be around. And we’ve been around them for hundreds of years, literally!

It is believed that the Welsh Corgi originated in Wales sometime before 1000 AD. They were the farmers’ right-hand “men” for a number of important tasks, including guarding livestock, keeping rodents in check, and keeping their families safe. We can, at the very least, thank them for all their hard work throughout the years by celebrating them on this one, special occasion.

Ways to Celebrate International Corgi Day

International Corgi Day is most notably celebrated with official ICD events held worldwide. In 2023, these events were hosted in Canada, Malaysia, Myanmar, and all over the US, including Mississippi, Georgia, Nebraska, Florida, New York, and other states.

At the moment, we don’t have any details about events taking place in 2024, but you should be able to find timely information on the ICD website well before June 4th.

But what if you can’t attend any of these official events? Can you still celebrate corgis?

According to the ICD team, absolutely! Besides attending an official event, you can also consider hosting one. If you want your event to be featured on the ICD website, simply submit details about your event to the team. They will be more than glad to promote you.

If that feels like too much, consider “sharing a post online with the [hash]tag #InternationalCorgiDay, or purchasing an item in [the team’s] online store, internationalcorgiday.com.” The team says that the proceeds from every sale go into funds that support a different corgi rescue around the world chosen by their fans every other quarter.

Here are a few more ideas for celebrating this special holiday.

• Donate to corgi rescues and charities — for example, see Corgi Rescue, East Coast Corgi Rescue, Southeast Corgi Rescue, and Sunshine Corgi Rescue
• Alternatively, consider buying corgi-related merch from these or similar organizations  
• Also, if possible, consider adopting a corgi
• If you have a corgi, celebrate the day with them — take them for a long walk, spoil them with their favorite treat or food, surprise them with a new toy, or organize long cuddle sessions
• Educate yourself about corgis — learn more about their personality, potential health risks, and how to keep them happy and healthy

Five Corgi Facts

• There are two types of Welsh corgi, Pembroke Welsh corgis and Cardigan Welsh corgis. They mainly differ in coloration, size, and bone structure.
• Pembroke Welsh corgis are the 11th most popular dog breed in the US, according to the American Kennel Club. Cardigan Welsh corgis occupy the 62nd place.
• Queen Elizabeth II did a lot for corgis. First and foremost, she made them incredibly popular. The Queen got her first corgi, Susan, when she was only 18 years old, and she would own many other corgis during her lifetime. She referred to them as family and even personally oversaw a program of Pembroke Welsh Corgi breeding at Windsor Castle. 
• There’s still some debate about this, but corgi could mean “dwarf dog” in Welsh.
• Pembroke Welsh corgis can be born tailless, mainly because their tails have been docked for many years. They’ve eventually evolved to have shorter or no tails at all.

Closing Thoughts From the ICD Team

We asked the ICD team to share their hopes for the future. They told us that they “hope ICD continues to grow and is able to support many more rescues through orders at [their store].” They also hope we all continue to “celebrate our love of the short-legged breed with big hearts.”

We are sure they will achieve their goals, and we’ll be rooting for them every step of the way. As for you, dear readers, we hope we’ve inspired you to celebrate this special holiday, in any way you want. Remember, only one thing really matters: making corgis happy!

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Masarik/Shutterstock.com