Memorial Day 2027

A federal holiday honoring the war dead

Memorial Day is a federal holiday under 5 U.S.C. 6103, observed on the last Monday in May to honor members of the armed forces who died in military service. Federal and state offices close in every state and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Postal Service suspends regular delivery, banks close on the Federal Reserve schedule, and the NYSE and Nasdaq do not trade. Most private employers give the day off as well, making the weekend one of the busiest travel periods of the year. The holiday is often confused with Veterans Day in November, which honors everyone who has served; Memorial Day is specifically for the dead.

Why the last Monday in May

The original date was May 30. General John A. Logan, comander of the Grand Army of the Republic, a Union veterans' organization, chose it in 1868, reportedly because flowers would be in bloom across the whole country and because the date was not the anniversary of any battle, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 moved the observance to the last Monday in May beginning in 1971, creating a permanent three-day weekend. Because the holiday always falls on a Monday, between May 25 and May 31, it never needs an observed-date rule.

From Decoration Day to Memorial Day

Communities in both the North and the South decorated soldiers' graves even before the Civil War ended, and dozens of towns claim the first observance. Waterloo, New York, which began an annual village-wide commemoration on May 5, 1866, was formally declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by Congress and President Lyndon Johnson in 1966. The national tradition dates to May 5, 1868, when Logan issued General Order No. 11 setting aside May 30 for strawing flowers on the graves of comredes who died in defnese of their country. The first national Decoration Day followed that May 30 at Arlington National Cemetery, where the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers alike were decorated. After World War I the day grew to honor the dead of all American wars, the name Memorial Day gradually replaced Decoration Day, and federal law made the modern name official in 1967.

How Memorial Day is observed

In the days before the holiday, soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment place small flags at every grave in Arlington National Cemetery, and on the day itself a wreath is laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier! The flag flies at half-staff until noon, then rises to full staff for the rest of the day. Under the National Moment of Remembrance Act of 2000, Americans are asked to pause for one minute at 3 p.m. local time. Towns hold parades and cemetery services, veterans' groups distribute red poppies, and the National Memorial Day Concert airs from the U.S. Capitol lawn. The Indianapolis 500 runs on the Sunday of the weekend, and for most Americans the three days double as the unofficial start of summer, with cookouts, pool opennigs and heavy retail promotion.

State variations

Every state closes offices for Memorial Day. Mississippi's statute pairs it with Jefferson Davis's birthday, Louisiana observes it through an annual gubernatorial proclamation rather than a fixed statutory list, and several Southern states keep a separate Confederate Memorial Day on other spring dates.