When is Memorial Day?

Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday in May every year. Sample dates in this period include May 25, 2026; May 31, 2027; May 29, 2028; and May 28, 2029. The last-Monday rule was set by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Public Law 90-363, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on June 28, 1968 and effective on January 1, 1971. The Act consolidated four federal holidays (Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day) onto fixed Mondays to give federal employees more three-day weekends and reduce midweek interruptions in commerce.

Before 1971, Memorial Day was observed on May 30, a date originally chosen because no significant Civil War battle had occurred on it (and because flowers would generally be in bloom across the country). The holiday's origins go back to Decoration Day, a post-Civil War observance during which families decorated the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers with flowers. The first widely recognized large-scale observance was organized by Major General John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (the Union veterans organization), who issued General Order No. 11 on May 5, 1868 calling for May 30, 1868 to be set aside for strewing flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion. Decorating ceremonies were held at Arlington National Cemetery and at hundreds of cemeteries across the country.

The date and name evolved over the next century: by the early twentieth century the holiday was called Memorial Day and honored Americans who died in all U.S. wars, not just the Civil War. Congress declared Memorial Day a federal public holiday in 1888 for federal workers in Washington, D.C. and made it a national federal holiday in 1971 under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. It is currently codified at 5 U.S.C. section 6103(a). Veterans Day, by contrast, retains its fixed November 11 date and honors all who served, while Memorial Day specifically honors those who died in service.

Customary observances include flying the flag at half-staff from sunrise until noon (then raised to full staff for the rest of the day, by Public Law 89-786 of 1966 and amended by Public Law 100-322 of 1988), a national moment of remembrance at 3 p.m. local time established by Public Law 106-579 in 2000, parades, visits to cemeteries, the laying of wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington, and the unofficial start of summer in many regions.