Celebrated on October 1st each year, International Blåhaj Day is a fairly new celebration having only been observed since the early 2020s. The Blåhaj is a simple stuffed toy made by IKEA and sold all over the world since 2008. While the toy was (and still is) designed as a stuffed animal for children, it has become an icon of the LGBTQ+ community and has spawned memes and global appreciation. The Blåhaj has even been used as a political prop and through its association with the transgender community, has provided comfort, fun and cuddles to thousands upon thousands of people for almost two decades.
The first Blåhaj was launched by IKEA back in 2008 under the name Grössby and a little later, Klappar Haj, Swedish for ‘petting shark’. The first Haj was grey in colour, but in 2012 IKEA changed the Haj to the blue colour we all now know and love. At the same time, the name was changed to Blåhaj, meaning ‘blue shark’.
Blåhaj developed a cultural status in some countries with owners posting lighthearted images of them in everyday situations to social media sites. But it wasn’t until 2020 that Blåhaj became associated with the LGBTQ+ community, when it was noted the colours of the shark resembled those of the transgender flag; blue, pink and white.
It has since become a rite of passage for those coming out to be gifted a Blåhaj, and the plushie toy continues to be made into memes and social media posts everyday. Owners often anthropomorphise them, giving them names and personalities and often describe the Blåhaj as being adopted, or even themselves being adopted by the Haj.
Aside from the colours of Blåhaj resembling the transgender flag, the size of the toy is a reason for their icon status. They typically come in two sizes, large and small, with the large being a metre long. This makes them very huggable and increases the fun element in the memes, particularly when they are in public settings like restaurants and shopping malls.
In 2021, IKEA acknowledged the status of Blåhaj in the LGBTQ+ community by launching a series of advertisements in Switzerland promoting and supporting the same-sex marriage referendum. Also in 2021, it was suggested that IKEA may discontinue the Blåhaj after stores were reportedly out-of-stock. This caused the toy to trend on social media with users voicing concern and outrage. IKEA responded not long after that they were not discontinuing Blåhaj.
In 2026, Blåhaj became the first plushie toy to have an instruction manual. Playing on IKEA’s flat-packed furniture items and the manual that accompanies them, a Spanish LGBTQ+ organisation created a PDF manual for Blåhaj. But not containing assembly instructions, the manual instead describes how to be empathetic towards LGBTQ+ people, to show more understanding and to not show prejudice towards others. IKEA have posted this manual to their Spanish website.
So on October 1st, make sure your Blåhaj gets the attention he/she deserves. Leave some snaccos out, make sure there’s a blanky nearby in case it gets cold, and be sure to give him/her plenty of cuddles.
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Header Image: Cute Buns In A Jock Strap
