Happy Friendship Day Messages for Old Friends and New Ones
Friendship Day is a good excuse to say the thing you usually leave unsaid. Below are messages for the friends people actually have: a best friend, a friend you haven't spoken to in years, a friend in another country, a friend from work, a friend going through something hard, and the group chat. Each one has a Copy button. Pick one, then change a detail so it sounds like you.
Friendship Day 2027 is on Sunday, August 1, 2027.
50 messages: longer notes, a best friend, an old friend, a friend far away, a new friend, a friend at work, a hard time, the group chat, short texts, and replies.
When is Friendship Day?
In the United States and India, Friendship Day is the first Sunday of August, so the date moves a little each year. Friendship Day 2027 is on Sunday, August 1, 2027. In India, tying a friendship band on a friend's wrist is one of the best-known customs of the day, especially among young people.
The United Nations marks a separate day, the International Day of Friendship, every July 30. The General Assembly set it in 2011, with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries and cultures can help build peace. That date grew out of a campaign that began in Paraguay in 1958, and July 30 is still Friendship Day there. In Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, Friend's Day is July 20.
In the United States, the idea goes back to 1930, when Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark Cards, proposed a Friendship Day. Whichever date you keep, the point is the same: a reason to get in touch with someone you care about.
Friendship Day
- Friendship Day 2027
- Sunday, August 1, 2027
- Friendship Day 2028
- Sunday, August 6, 2028
The first Sunday of August, in the United States and India.
International Day of Friendship
- International Day of Friendship 2027
- Friday, July 30, 2027
- International Day of Friendship 2028
- Sunday, July 30, 2028
July 30 every year, set by the United Nations in 2011.
What to write on Friendship Day
A Friendship Day message works best when it is about one friend and one thing. Three parts are enough:
- 1.Name something real. A memory, a habit, a time they showed up for you. "You drove two hours to sit with me" says more than any adjective.
- 2.Say what it meant. One sentence on why it stayed with you.
- 3.Leave the door open. A question, a plan, or "no need to reply" if they have a lot going on.
Write the way you talk to this person. If the two of you never say "I love you," a message is a strange place to start, and "I'm glad you're my friend" carries the same weight. A text is fine for most friends. A card or a letter in the post is a nice surprise for someone far away.
A longer note for a close friend
Happy Friendship Day. I tried to work out how long we've been friends and gave up somewhere around the year you helped me move apartments in the rain. Thank you for all the ordinary days since then. They add up to a lot.
A note that names one memory
Happy Friendship Day. I still think about the night you drove two hours to sit with me in a hospital waiting room and never once asked if I needed anything, because you could see that I didn't. I've never thanked you properly for that. Thank you.
For a friend who thinks the day is made up
I know you think Friendship Day is a made-up holiday, and you're probably right, but I'm using it anyway. You're the person I call first with good news and with bad news, and I don't tell you that often enough. That's all. Carry on.
For a friend you see every week
Happy Friendship Day. We see each other so often that I forget to say any of this out loud, so here it is in writing: Thursday dinners with you are the steadiest part of my week, and I'd like to keep them going for another twenty years.
For a best friend
With your closest friend, the risk isn't saying too little. It's saying something so general it could be about anyone. You know more about this person than almost anyone does, so use it: the trip, the phone call, the year they got you through. Keep an inside joke if it will land, but make sure at least one line says plainly what they mean to you. If your best friend isn't sentimental, one true sentence will mean more to them than a long message.
For the friend who knows your whole history
Happy Friendship Day to the one person who remembers my terrible first haircut, my worst breakup and the summer I tried to learn the banjo, and who has never once used any of it against me. Thank you for keeping my secrets and my company.
For a best friend who always turns up
You've turned up for every move, every birthday and every bad week I've had. I notice, even when I forget to say so. Happy Friendship Day, and thank you for being the most reliable person I know.
Plain and short, for a best friend
Happy Friendship Day. You're still the first person I want to tell when anything happens, good or bad. I hope that never changes.
For a best friend you met as kids
We met at eight, arguing over whose turn it was on the swing, and we're still arguing about the small things and agreeing about the big ones. Happy Friendship Day. I'd sign up for the next thirty years of it.
For a best friend whose life is busy now
I know your days are full right now, with the new job and the kids and everything else, so no need to write back. I just wanted to say Happy Friendship Day, and that I miss you and I'm proud of you.
For a best friend who lives nearby
Happy Friendship Day to my best friend and neighbor of six years. Thank you for the borrowed sugar, the spare key and the porch conversations that run past midnight. I'm lucky you live four doors down.
For an old friend you've lost touch with
Friendship Day is one of the easiest reasons to get back in touch with someone you've drifted from, because the day itself is the reason. You aren't writing because you need something. Keep it short, mention one memory so they know the message is really meant for them, and make it easy to answer or not answer.
Don't open with a long apology or an account of why you went quiet. If you were the one who stopped calling, one sentence owning it is enough. And don't ask for a full catch-up in the first message. A hello and a small suggestion, like a coffee or a call, is plenty. If you'd rather not mention the day at all, there are more thinking of you messages.
Reaching out after years
Happy Friendship Day. I saw a yellow Volkswagen this morning and thought of you and that road trip to the coast, and I realized it's been far too long. No pressure to catch up properly. I just wanted you to know I still think of you.
When you drifted apart for no reason
We never fell out. We just drifted, the way people do when jobs and cities change. I've missed you. If you'd ever like to talk, I'd love that, and if not, I hope you're well and happy. Happy Friendship Day.
When you were the one who went quiet
I'm the one who stopped calling, and I'm sorry about that. Life got loud and I let a good friendship go quiet. Happy Friendship Day. I'd love to buy you a coffee and hear what the last few years have been like.
Short, with an easy way to reply
Happy Friendship Day from an old friend. You came to mind this morning and I wanted to say hello. How are you?
For a friend from school
Happy Friendship Day. Someone posted our old class photo and there you were in the back row, pulling the face you always pulled. I'd love to hear how you've been since then.
For a friend far away
With a friend who lives far away, the message has to do some of the work a visit would. Mention something from their life now as well as your shared past, so it doesn't read as if you only miss who they used to be. If they live on the other side of the world, it may already be the next day when your message arrives, and that's fine.
A small parcel or a photo in the post goes a long way, and a plan, even a loose one, says more than "we should catch up sometime." For more words about the distance, see miss you messages.
For a friend in another time zone
By the time you read this it may already be tomorrow where you are, so happy early or late Friendship Day, whichever it is. I miss our walks. Let's find a time to call that works on both clocks.
For a friend who moved away this year
It's the first Friendship Day since you moved, and the city feels a size smaller without you in it. Send me photos of your new street. I'm already looking at flights.
With a parcel in the post
There's a small parcel on its way to you. It's nothing much, just the tea you like and a photo I found from the lake trip. Happy Friendship Day. I wish I could hand it to you myself.
For a friend you see once a year
We see each other once a year if we're lucky, and we always pick up mid-sentence. Happy Friendship Day from three states away. Same week next summer?
For a friend in another country
Happy Friendship Day. I worked out that we've now been friends on two continents for longer than we were on the same one, and you still feel like the person down the hall. Talk soon?
For a new friend
With a new friend, keep it light. Saying you're glad you met is lovely; calling someone your best friend after three months can put them on the spot. Friendships take time: a University of Kansas study found it took roughly 50 hours together to go from acquaintance to casual friend, and more than 200 to become close friends (Hall, 2018). So mention what you've enjoyed doing together and suggest the next time. A new friendship grows from turning up again more than from anything you write.
For a friend you made this year
Happy Friendship Day. I'm glad we ended up at the same table in that pottery class. It's been a long time since I made a new friend as a grown-up, and I'm really glad it was you.
For a neighbor who became a friend
We went from waving across the fence to Sunday coffee in about three months. Happy Friendship Day to my favorite new neighbor. Thanks for making the move so much easier than I expected.
For a friend in a new city
When I moved here I didn't know a single person. Now I know you, and through you, half the neighborhood. Happy Friendship Day, and thank you for all the introductions.
For someone you're just getting to know
Happy Friendship Day. I know we've only been friends a few months, but I've enjoyed every one of our Saturday runs, even the hill. Same time next week?
For a friend at work
A friend at work is a friend first, but the message still lands at work. Send it as a direct message or say it over lunch rather than posting in the team channel, where other people may feel left out of a day they didn't know about. Keep it to things you'd be happy for anyone to read over your shoulder: the shared lunches, the help on a bad day, the commentary during a long meeting. And if your work friend has moved on to another job, Friendship Day is a good reason to make sure the friendship moved with them.
For the friend who sits next to you
Happy Friendship Day to the person who saves me a seat at every all-hands and knows when I need a walk around the block more than another meeting. Work is a lot better with you in it.
For a work friend who moved teams
Different floor now, same friend. Happy Friendship Day. I miss our lunches more than I'll admit in a work chat, so let's book one before the month is out.
For a work friend who left the company
Happy Friendship Day. The office isn't the same since you left, but I'm glad our friendship didn't stay behind with your badge. Dinner soon?
For a remote coworker
We've never been in the same room, but you're the person I message when a meeting goes sideways. Happy Friendship Day. Thanks for the running commentary and the sanity checks.
For a mentor who became a friend
You started out as the person who showed me where everything was, and somewhere along the way you became one of my closest friends. Happy Friendship Day, and thank you for both.
For a friend going through a hard time
If a friend is grieving, unwell, going through a breakup or just having a rough stretch, Friendship Day is still a fine reason to write, but leave out the celebration. Say you're thinking of them, say they don't need to reply, and if you can, offer one concrete thing: dinner, a lift, an afternoon. "Let me know if you need anything" hands the work back to them.
Don't look for a bright side, and don't compare it to something you went through. If they want to talk about it, they will. For a loss, the condolence messages page has more words that may help.
No reply needed
I know things are heavy right now, so this needs no answer. I'm thinking of you today, and I'm here on all the ordinary days after it too.
With an offer of dinner
I'd like to bring dinner over this week. I can leave it at the door and go, or stay and watch something terrible on TV with you. Your choice, and either is fine. Happy Friendship Day.
For a friend who is grieving
I know these last few months have been the hardest of your life. I don't have anything wise to say about losing your mom. I just want you to know I love you, and I'm close by whenever you want company or quiet.
For a friend who is unwell
Happy Friendship Day from someone who would much rather be sitting by your bed than sending a text. I'll come by on Saturday if you're up for it. If not, I'll wait. No rush.
For a friend after a breakup
This year has taken a lot from you, and I've watched you handle it with more grace than I would have. Happy Friendship Day. Lean on me as much as you like, for as long as it takes.
For a group of friends (the group chat)
A message to the whole group should include everyone in it. Skip the inside joke that half the chat wasn't there for, and don't single out one friend in a group message; send that person a note of their own. Group messages work best with a small plan attached, because the hardest part of any friend group is getting everyone in one place. If the chat has been quiet for a while, a question anyone can answer is a good way to start it up again.
To open the group chat
Happy Friendship Day to this group chat, which has survived three weddings, two moves abroad and one very long argument about pizza toppings. I'd pick every one of you again.
With a plan for everyone
Happy Friendship Day, everyone. It's been far too long since we were all at one table. I'm proposing the last Saturday of the month at my place. Bring nothing but yourselves. Who's in?
For friends spread across cities
We live in five different cities now and it takes a spreadsheet to plan a call, but this chat still feels like the old kitchen table. Happy Friendship Day to all of you.
For a chat that has gone quiet
This chat has gone quiet lately, and I miss it. So, Happy Friendship Day, and a question for everyone: what's one good thing that happened to you this month?
For the friends who got you through a hard year
To the friends who brought meals, sent ridiculous videos at midnight and kept checking in long after everyone else stopped: Happy Friendship Day. I don't know how I'd have gotten through this year without you, and I don't want to find out.
Short texts for Friendship Day
For a text on the day itself, a line under a photo, or a quick reply. Each one works as it is.
The plainest one
Happy Friendship Day. I'm glad you're my friend.
For a friend you text every day
Happy Friendship Day. Thanks for answering every one of my texts, including the very long ones.
For a friend you miss
Happy Friendship Day. I miss you. Coffee soon?
For an old friend, short
Thought of you today, as I often do. Happy Friendship Day, old friend.
With a photo
Found this photo of us and had to send it. Happy Friendship Day.
For a friend who made the week easier
Happy Friendship Day. You made a hard week easier, and I noticed.
A day late
I missed Friendship Day by a day, but not the point of it. Glad you're my friend.
On July 30
Happy International Day of Friendship. It seemed like a good excuse to tell you I'm glad we're friends.
For the rest of the year, there are more messages for friends: for a best friend, a friend far away, or just to say thank you. Other dates worth knowing are in the holiday calendar.
If a friend writes to you first
If a friend writes to you first, answer the same day if you can, and match their tone: a long, heartfelt message deserves more than a single heart, and a quick text needs only a quick one back. If you forgot the day, say so and make it up to them. Nobody minds.
Replying to a long message
I've read your message three times now. Thank you. I didn't know that weekend meant so much to you, and it meant a lot to me too. Happy Friendship Day.
Replying when you forgot the day
You remembered and I forgot, which tells you exactly which of us is the better friend. Happy Friendship Day. Lunch is on me.
Replying to an old friend
It was so good to see your name on my phone. Yes, let's talk. I'm free most evenings this week. Happy Friendship Day to you too.
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