News Everything You Need to Know About International Women's Day on March 8 By Brandi Fowler Brandi Fowler Instagram Website In addition to her extensive fashion, lifestyle, and beauty coverage for InStyle, Brandi has worked as a writer and editor for E! Online, a fashion and lifestyle writer for Hello! US, an editor/on-camera host for AOL, contributing writer and red carpet correspondent for Variety and Cosmopolitan, and has also served as the Hollywood correspondent for Australia's 9News' TheFIX. Her editorial features can also be found on Vitruvi, MTV News, Madame Noire, Hello Beautiful and more covering fashion, beauty, lifestyle, travel, and entertainment news. Her articles have been syndicated by the likes of Health, Marie Claire, Essence, Shape, Yahoo!, People, and more. InStyle's editorial guidelines Updated on March 6, 2019 @ 12:45PM Pin Share Tweet Email International Women’s Day is just a couple of days away, but before women everywhere put on their purple to show their support on March 8, here are three things you should know about its history and this year’s theme #BalanceforBetter. How International Women's Day Came to Be International Women’s Day, which celebrates the achievements of women globally and calls for gender equality, is nothing new. Observed since the 1900s, it reportedly started in 1909 as National Woman's Day, thanks to the Socialist Party of America, which, “designated this day in honor of the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions,” according to the UN. At the time, it was observed on February 28. The Radical Reason Why March 8 Is International Women's Day In 1910, Socialist International met in Copenhagen and established a Women’s Day, which honored the women’s rights movement, and built support for voting rights for women. Following that meeting, which was attended by women from all over the world, International Women's Day was marked for the first time on March 19 in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland in 1911. Women went on to hold rallies in 1914 on March 8 to protest World War 1 and stand in solidarity with other activists. Barry Phillips/ANL/REX/Shutterstock Why Wear Purple? Internationally, purple is a color that symbolizes women. The combination of purple and green to symbolize women's equality originated from the Women’s Social and Political Union in the UK in 1908, according to International Women’s Day. Purple signifies justice and dignity, and green symbolizes hope. VIDEO: International Women's Day Celebrations Around the World This Year’s Theme It’s none other than #BalanceforBetter — a push for "a gender-balanced world." Organizers maintain that through collective action, balance can be achieved in the workplace, in the media, and at home. The website notes that, "gender balance is essential for economies and communities to thrive." Get involved in the movement by attending local events and encouraging friends and social media followers to join in with a photo of yourself in the #BalanceforBetter pose. Simply by posting a photo with your hands out, you can share a call-to-action and encourage other people to join in. Use the #BalanceforBetter and #IWD2019 hashtags to find like-minded participants. To find out how you can observe International Women's Day (and more), visit the International Women’s Day site for tips on planning, posting on social media, and even printing a poster for the big day.