What is Memorial Day?
Memorial Day honours the men and women of the United States armed forces who died while serving. It is distinct from Veterans Day in November, which honours all who served, living or dead. Traditional observances include visiting cemeteries and memorials, placing flags and flowers on graves, and parades in towns across the country. At Arlington National Cemetery, a small flag is placed on each grave and the President or Vice President usually lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Many people also hold family gatherings at graves.
The flag is flown at half-staff until noon and then raised to full height. A National Moment of Remembrance, set by Congress in 2000, invites Americans to pause at 3 p.m. local time. The weekend is also regarded as the unofficial start of summer, with barbecues, beach trips and the opening of swimming pools, and the Indianapolis 500 motor race takes place on the Sunday before. Veterans' groups also sell paper poppies, a custom inspired by a First World War poem, In Flanders Fields. Speeches and the playing of Taps, the bugle call, are common at ceremonies.
Why it is observed
The holiday began after the Civil War as Decoration Day, when communities decorated the graves of soldiers. Several towns claim to be the birthplace, and in 1868 General John A. Logan, the head of the Union veterans' organisation the Grand Army of the Republic, called for a national day on 30 May. After the First World War the commemoration was extended to those killed in all American wars. The name Memorial Day became official in federal law in 1967, and the Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved it to the last Monday in May from 1971.
How the date is set
Memorial Day in the United States is the last Monday of May, so it falls between 25 and 31 May.
How it is observed
Memorial Day is a federal holiday. Federal offices, the stock markets, banks, post offices and schools are closed, and many private employers give the day off. Many shops stay open, often with sales, and parades and ceremonies take place in the morning. The long weekend is one of the busiest for road and air travel in the United States. Public transport often runs a reduced schedule. Pay, premium rates and time off depend on the employer, the state and the contract. Postal delivery is suspended. Some towns hold their parades on the Monday itself or on the preceding weekend.
United States