Memorial Day is nearly here. In 2024, the holiday is on Monday, May 27.
Here is everything you need to know about the upcoming holiday: date, reason for celebration and facts about Memorial Day.
When is Memorial Day in 2024?
Memorial Day is on Monday, May 27, in 2024.
Memorial Day is celebrated annually on the last Monday in May, but the specific calendar date changes every year.
What is Memorial Day celebrated for?
Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for honoring and remembering men and women who have fallen while serving in the U.S. military.
Each year, Memorial Day is honored at the Arlington National Cemetery with an American flag placed on each grave. The president or vice president typically commemorates the holiday by placing a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, per Arlington National Cemetery.
In a century and a half of celebration, the holiday has evolved into a general time to remember the dead, rather than just fallen soldiers. The three-day weekend is typically spent with barbecues, pool days and sales.
The drift from the holiday’s intended purpose has been a source of contention.
In 1972, Time magazine called the holiday a “three-day nationwide hootenanny that seems to have lost much of its original purpose.”
What is the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day?
Memorial Day is a holiday to remember American soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom.
Veterans Day is a holiday to celebrate all those who have served in the U.S. military. Veterans Day is celebrated annually on Nov. 11.
4 facts about Memorial Day
1. Memorial Day was originally named Decoration Day
More than 620,000 American lives were lost during the Civil War. In the wake of the war, John A. Logan, the commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, set aside a day to honor the lost lives, per the National Archives. He named it Decoration Day, as it was meant to be a day to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers.
“The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, declared in May 1868, per History.com.
2. Memorial Day became a federal holiday in 1971
It wasn’t until 1971 that Memorial Day was officially declared a federal holiday, when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. It was still often called Decoration Day, per the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson honored a century of Memorial Day celebration and recognized Waterloo, New York, as the “birthplace” of the holiday.
3. Red poppies are worn as a symbol of remembrance
During World War I, Canadian artillery unit brigade surgeon Lt. Col. John McCrae was struck by the sight of red poppies blooming on war-torn land where he had witnessed the death of dozens of soldiers. The imagery inspired the poem, “In Flanders Field,” in which McCrae channels the voices of fallen soldiers, per Reader’s Digest.
Struck by the poem, an American woman named Moina Michael began making and selling red silk poppies to raise money for returning veterans. Her work, coupled with McCrae’s poem, eventually made the red poppy an enduring symbol of remembrance.
4. Memorial Day is one of the busiest travel days in the U.S.
Americans use Memorial Day for an extended weekend getaway. According to a report from AAA, Memorial Day travel will be extra busy this year. The report estimates roughly 43.8 million people will travel over the three-day weekend, 38 million of which will travel by car.
“We haven’t seen Memorial Day weekend travel numbers like these in almost 20 years,” Paula Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel, said in a news release. “We’re projecting an additional one million travelers this holiday weekend compared to 2019, which not only means we’re exceeding pre-pandemic levels but also signals a very busy summer travel season ahead.”
Airports will also be busy. The Transportation Security Administration anticipates more than 18 million passengers and crew to travel by air between Thursday, May 23, and Wednesday, May 29, per a recent press release. But don’t expect too much chaos; airports are prepared for the increase in travelers.
“In close coordination with airport, airline and travel partners, we are more than ready to handle this summer’s increased travel volumes,” said TSA Administrator David Pekoske, per a press release.
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Memorial Day travel will be the busiest its been in 20 years
