Memorial Day

Memorial Day is the American day of remembrance for the men and women who died in the country’s military service. Falling on the last Monday of May, it anchors a long weekend that many treat as the unofficial start of summer — but its purpose is solemn, rooted in more than a century and a half of mourning and gratitude.

From Decoration Day to a national holiday

The observance grew out of the Civil War, the deadliest conflict in American history. In the years afterward, communities North and South began decorating soldiers’ graves with flowers each spring. On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, issued General Order No. 11 calling for a nationwide “Decoration Day” on May 30. That first observance drew thousands to Arlington National Cemetery to honor Union and Confederate dead alike. The name Memorial Day spread over the following decades but was not made the holiday’s official federal title until 1967. A year later, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved the date from a fixed May 30 to the last Monday of May, creating the modern three-day weekend when it took effect in 1971.

How Memorial Day is observed

Remembrance still centers on the cemetery. Families visit graves, volunteers and service members plant small American flags beside veterans’ headstones, and towns hold parades led by veterans and marching bands. By federal custom the flag is flown at half-staff until noon, then raised to full height for the rest of the day. In 2000 Congress established the National Moment of Remembrance, inviting everyone to pause for one minute at 3:00 p.m. local time. Many people also wear a red poppy, the flower made a symbol of wartime sacrifice by the poem “In Flanders Fields.”

Alongside the ceremonies, the weekend has become a broad marker of the season: backyard cookouts, the Indianapolis 500, and the opening of pools and beaches. The two sides of the day coexist — a nation both grieving its war dead and gathering with the living it was meant to protect.