The History and What They Mean Today

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Memorial Day and Veterans Day arrive six months apart and are routinely mixed up, in part because U.S. law once put both on movable Mondays. Memorial Day grew out of the Civil War and honors those who gave their lives for the country. Veterans Day grew out of World War I and, since 1954, has honored American veterans of all wars. Their paths crossed in the late 1960s and 1970s, when Congress changed the calendar for both.

Related: 2026 Veterans Day

Memorial Day: From Decoration Day to a Monday in May

In May 1868, John A. Logan, commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, issued General Order No. 11, setting aside May 30 “for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades,” according to the National Park Service. The first national observance took place at Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1868, where James A. Garfield, then an Ohio member of Congress and Civil War veteran, spoke. The holiday was first called Decoration Day, according to the National Park Service.

The date stayed fixed at May 30 until federal law changed it. The Library of Congress says the 1971 change moved the observance to the last Monday in May.

Veterans Day: From Armistice Day to Veterans Day

Veterans Day began as Armistice Day, set aside to mark the end of World War I, which officially took place Nov. 11, 1918, according to the Government Publishing Office. Congress made the date a legal holiday in an act approved May 13, 1938, titled “An Act making the 11th day of November in each year a legal holiday.”

The name changed in 1954. At the urging of veterans service organizations, according to the Government Publishing Office, Congress passed Public Law 83-380, approved June 1, 1954, during Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidency. The law is one sentence long: It amends the 1938 act “by striking out the word ‘Armistice’ and inserting in lieu thereof the word ‘Veterans.'” Its stated purpose was to honor veterans on Nov. 11, “a day dedicated to world peace.”

The Monday Experiment

Public Law 90-363, signed June 28, 1968, was meant to give federal employees three-day weekends. It amended the federal holiday statute so that Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Columbus Day all fell on Mondays, according to the Government Publishing Office. The text listed “Memorial Day, the last Monday in May” and “Veterans Day, the fourth Monday in October.” The U.S. Code’s statutory notes say the change took effect Jan. 1, 1971.

The first Monday-observed Veterans Day came on Oct. 25, 1971, “amid much confusion,” and many states kept the original Nov. 11 date.

Related: 2026 Veterans Day Free Meals and Restaurant Deals and Discounts

Congress Moves Veterans Day Back

Public Law 94-97, approved Sept. 18, 1975 (89 Stat. 479), amended the federal holiday statute to read “Veterans Day, November 11.” The change took effect Jan. 1, 1978, according to the U.S. Code’s statutory notes. Memorial Day stayed on its Monday, and the federal holiday statute still lists it as the last Monday in May.

Congress later wrote Memorial Day into Title 36 of the U.S. Code, which now reads: “The last Monday in May is Memorial Day.” The Title 36 text cites Public Law 105-225, enacted in 1998.

Telling Them Apart

History leaves behind a simple rule.

Memorial Day, rooted in the decoration of Civil War graves, is when the country remembers those who gave their lives in service. Veterans Day, renamed in 1954, honors all American veterans, and it has stayed tied to the date that ended the First World War.

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