Memorial Day

Memorial Day is the federal holiday on the last Monday in May that honors members of the US armed forces who died in military service. It began after the Civil War as Decoration Day, first observed nationally on May 30, 1868, when Americans placed flowers on soldiers’ graves. Since 1971 it has been a Monday holiday, which is why it now falls anywhere from May 25 to May 31.

Memorial Day History: Decoration Day in 1868

The national holiday traces to an order from a veterans’ group. On May 5, 1868, Gen. John A. Logan, commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans, issued General Order No. 11. It declared that “the 30th day of May, 1868 is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers” the graves of comrades who died defending the Union.

The order left the details to local posts. It set no required ceremony, only a shared date. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the late-May date is believed to have been chosen because flowers would be in bloom across the country.

Logan’s order also urged: “We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance.”

The first observance at Arlington

The largest ceremony that first year took place at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac from Washington. Speakers gathered at the veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee, with Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his wife among the officials present. Afterward, children from the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphan Home and members of the Grand Army walked through the cemetery, scattering flowers on both Union and Confederate graves.

About 5,000 people attended, which the VA notes is roughly the size of the crowd at Arlington’s modern observance. Small American flags were placed on each grave, a custom that national cemeteries still follow. Commemorations took place in 183 cemeteries in 27 states in 1868, and in 336 cemeteries the next year.

Where Did Memorial Day Begin?

There is no single agreed birthplace. Communities in both the North and South held springtime tributes to the Civil War dead before Logan’s order, and the VA counts about 25 places that have been named in connection with the holiday’s origin.

A few of the best-known claims:

• Columbus, Mississippi: On April 25, 1866, a group of women decorated the graves of Confederate soldiers and, seeing the neglected graves of Union soldiers nearby, placed flowers on those as well.
• Carbondale, Illinois: A cemetery stone states that a Decoration Day ceremony took place there on April 29, 1866. Carbondale was Logan’s wartime home.
• Waterloo, New York: A community ceremony on May 5, 1866, honored local Civil War veterans. Businesses closed and residents flew flags at half-staff.
• Other claimants: Macon and Columbus in Georgia, Richmond, Virginia, and Boalsburg, Pennsylvania.

In 1966, Congress and President Lyndon B. Johnson recognized Waterloo as the official birthplace. Supporters of the claim argue that earlier events elsewhere were informal, one-time or not community-wide. Some scholars have questioned the designation.

From May 30 to the Last Monday in May

Decoration Day spread through state law before federal law. New York made it an official state holiday in 1873, and by 1890 every Northern state had done the same. Many Southern states also set their own separate days for honoring the Confederate dead.

Congress made Decoration Day a holiday for federal workers in the District of Columbia in 1888, on May 30. After World War I, the day widened to honor Americans who died in all of the nation’s wars, not only the Civil War. Over the same decades, the name Memorial Day gradually replaced Decoration Day in common use.

The fixed date ended with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, signed June 28, 1968. Starting in 1971, Memorial Day moved to the last Monday in May, joining Washington’s Birthday and other holidays on Mondays to give federal employees three-day weekends. The current statute puts it plainly: “The last Monday in May is Memorial Day.”

When Is Memorial Day 2027? How the Date Works

Find the last Monday in May by counting back from May 31. If May 31 is a Monday, that is the holiday; otherwise, step back to the most recent Monday. The result always lands between May 25 and May 31.

Year	Memorial Day
2025	Monday, May 26
2026	Monday, May 25
2027	Monday, May 31
2028	Monday, May 29

Memorial Day 2027 falls on May 31, the latest possible date, while 2026 had the earliest, May 25. The 2027 calendar shows the full month. Because the holiday is always a Monday, the federal rules for weekend holidays never apply to it. The guide to federal holidays explains how those rules work for fixed-date holidays.

How Americans Observe Memorial Day

Several customs are written into federal law or encouraged by it:

• Flag at half-staff until noon: The US Flag Code says the flag should fly at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day, then be raised to the top of the staff for the rest of the day.
• A presidential proclamation: Federal law asks the president to issue a proclamation each year calling on Americans to pray for permanent peace and setting a time when people can unite in prayer.
• The National Moment of Remembrance: A law signed in December 2000 designates the minute beginning at 3:00 p.m. local time as a moment for Americans to pause and remember those who died in service. Its founder, Carmella LaSpada, described it as a way to “put the memorial back in Memorial Day.”

Beyond those official customs, families visit cemeteries and decorate graves, towns hold parades and ceremonies, and small flags are placed on graves at many national cemeteries. Many families now extend the old practice to the graves of all departed relatives, not only service members.

Red poppies are another familiar symbol. They come from John McCrae’s 1915 poem “In Flanders Fields,” written during World War I. Moina Michael campaigned to make the poppy a remembrance symbol, and the American Legion adopted it in 1920.

Memorial Day vs. Veterans Day

The two holidays are often confused. Memorial Day honors those who died while serving in the military. Veterans Day, on November 11, honors everyone who has served in the armed forces, including living veterans.

The holidays also come from different wars. Memorial Day grew from Civil War grave decorations, while Veterans Day began as Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of fighting in World War I.

How Memorial Day Has Changed Over Time

The holiday has shifted in scope, name and date. It began as a day to decorate the graves of Civil War dead, broadened after World War I to cover all American wars, and moved from a fixed May 30 to a Monday in 1971.

Today the long weekend is also widely treated as the unofficial start of summer, a role that pairs it with Labor Day at the other end of the season. The 3:00 p.m. moment of remembrance, added by law in 2000, gives the day a shared pause for its original purpose in the middle of those plans.