International Women’s Day: Google Doodle celebrates generational wisdom of women

International Women's Day 2024: A Google Doodle featuring three generations of women

A sketch of three generations of women wrapped in a quilt, complete with an orange cat, makes up this year’s Google Doodle celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD). International Women’s Day is a global day to commemorate the social, cultural, economic, and political achievements of women. While celebrating women, IWD also aims to highlight the pressing issue of gender inequality that holds women back from achieving their full potential. This day is observed on March 8 every year.

On International Women’s Day 2024, Google has released a Doodle which highlights the importance of sharing wisdom across generations. The Doodle features three women wrapped in a quilt that is embroidered with “symbols of progress made over the years” – that is, it highlights the contribution of women to academia, arts, social justice and more.

A Google Doodle is a temporary alteration of the Google logo on the search engine's homepage. A Doodle generally appears on a specific holiday or festival, or it commemorates the contributions of a person of their birth of death anniversary. A Google Doodle typically serves to raise awareness about the topic it is celebrating. Doodles can be interactive and are prepared by an artist or a team of artists.

Observed annually on March 8, International Women's Day highlights the achievements of women in different spheres and serves to raise awareness about the challenges and inequalities that women face worldwide.

On March 8, 1975, the United Nations celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD) for the first time.

The Google Doodle for International Women’s Day 2024 was made by California-based artist Sophie Diao, who is an illustrator and art director for the Google Doodles team.

Diao says she wanted to capture the feeling of older women sharing their wisdom through her Doodle. “My mom's side of the family is mostly women, so whenever we'd go back to visit family in China, we would spend the entire summer together as a big multi-generational group: my grandma, my four aunts, my four girl cousins, and the numerous old ladies in the village who spent all day cooking food and playing cards. I wanted to capture that cozy, comforting feeling of older generations sharing wisdom and precious quality time with younger folks,” she said.