It's ‘Kiss A Ginger Day’ – Show Your Favourite Redhead Some Love

It's 'kiss a ginger day' and, although not a real holiday on the calendar, it's all made to encourage positivity.

This unofficial holiday was started back in 2009 on social media, of course, by Derek Forgie. Derek was just so sick and tired of the bullying and victimising he and other red-heads are subjected to.

When you look at it, being ginger is pretty cool and rare - less than two percent of the world's population is ginger, and this obviously doesn't count anyone who dyes their hair.

No shock there, but Scotland and Ireland are head and shoulders above the rest for the most gingers per head.

It is a result of a genetic mutation (not the cool makes-you-an-X-men kind) in one specific gene, MC1R (known as the 'ginger gene').

This 'ginger gene' is responsible for the red hair, freckles, and pale skin of all of your favourite redheads out there.

What's great about the gene is if both parents carry it there is a huge chance their child will be ginger, even if neither of them is.

And if both mum and dad are ginger there is almost 100 percent chance their child will be - it's quite rare when they aren't.

Gingers get a pretty hard time, in the past they weren't painted in the nicest light.

In fact, in medieval art, Jesus Christ's betrayer Judas was often painted as a fiery redhead, and the Christian scholar St Jerome once wrote a letter about raising daughters that said: "Do not dye her hair red and thereby presage for her the fires of hell."

It was also seen as an indicator of witchcraft or general untrustworthiness, while some people throughout history believed that the fat of a red-haired man could be used to make poison, or the blood of a ginger to turn copper to gold, which is bizarre to say the least - nice right?

Even with this bad press of the past there are some pretty cool red heads making waves in the world today.

From Rupert Grint and Isla Fisher to Prince Harry and Ed Sheeran some of favourite stars are rocking the red locks.

So, if there's a red head in your life that you love go and kiss that ginger - but please make sure you have permission to do so first.