Learn all about Memorial Day, including the true meaning of this day, how it differs from Veterans Day, and why the red poppy is a traditional symbol—with unexpected origins.
This U. However, there is a distinction between the two holidays:. Remember: Raise the flag with honor and respect! See guidelines for flying the American Flag. Traditionally, on Memorial Day U. A national moment of remembrance takes place at p. The custom of honoring ancestors by cleaning cemeteries and decorating graves is an ancient and worldwide tradition, but the specific origin of Memorial Day—or Decoration Day , as it was first known—is unclear.
In early rural America, this duty was usually performed in late summer and was an occasion for family reunions and picnics.
No less than 25 places have been named in connection with the origin of Memorial Day, and states observed the holiday on different dates. In , Memorial Day became a national holiday by an act of Congress; it is now celebrated annually on the last Monday in May. Since it all started with the Civil War, you might want to brush up on your knowledge of this event by visiting the Library of Congress Civil War collection , which includes more than a thousand photographs from the time.
In the war-torn battlefields of Europe, the common red field poppy Papaver rhoeas was one of the first plants to reappear. Its seeds scattered in the wind and sat dormant in the ground, only germinating when the ground was disturbed—as it was by the very brutal fighting of World War 1.
See below for the poem. He saw the poppies scattered throughout the battlefield surrounding his artillery position in Belgium. The wearing of the poppy was traditionally done on Memorial Day in the United States, but the symbolism has evolved to encompass all veterans living and deceased, so poppies may be worn on Veterans Day as well.
Not long after the custom began, it was adopted by other Allied nations, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, where it is still popular today. In these countries, the poppy is worn on Remembrance Day November Today, poppies are not only a symbol of loss of life, but also of recovery and new life, especially in support of the servicemen who survived the war but suffered from physical and psychological injuries long after it ended.
Read the text of both poems below, and learn more about the inspiration for the poppy here. In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. We caught the torch you threw And holding high, we keep the Faith With All who died.
We cherish, too, the poppy red That grows on fields where valor led; It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies, But lends a lustre to the red Of the flower that blooms above the dead In Flanders Fields. And now the Torch and Poppy Red We wear in honor of our dead. Memorial Day tends to mark the unofficial start of summer for many Americans though the season really begins with the Summer Solstice in June. According to AAA , nearly 37 million Americans are expected to take a trip this Memorial Day weekend for the first time in a while.
Commuters and vacationers will be getting a head start on the three-day holiday weekend. In metropolitan areas such as New York, Houston, and Atlanta, expect delays to be three to five times worse than usual at peak times during the weekend. Watch out for the higher gas prices in popular destinations, too. Overall, the best time to travel will be just after the morning commute or after the evening commute , when most people will either be at work or already settled at their destination.
So, plan accordingly! Super Summer Burger. Photo by Becky Luigart-Stayner. On Memorial Day weekend, we also enjoy the extra time spent with family and friends, sharing a meal. We are deeply grateful.
Logan established Decoration Day as a way for the nation to honor the graves of those who died in the Civil War with flowers, according to the U. Veterans Affairs Department. The 30th day of May, 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.
In this observance no form or ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
Logan was believed to have chosen May 30 as the day to observe Decoration Day because flowers would be in bloom nationwide, the VA website wrote. Though there were future conversations over the official day for Memorial Day, by the end of the 19th century, state legislatures passed proclamations naming May 30 as the holiday. John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former Union sailors and soldiers.
During that first national commemoration, former Union Gen. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue. Waterloo—which first celebrated the day on May 5, —was chosen because it hosted an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.
On May 5, , General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month. On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery , and 5, participants decorated the graves of the 20, Civil War soldiers buried there. Many Northern states held similar commemorative events and reprised the tradition in subsequent years; by each one had made Decoration Day an official state holiday.
Southern states, on the other hand, continued to honor the dead on separate days until after World War I. Memorial Day, as Decoration Day gradually came to be known, originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But in , Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees. The change went into effect in The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.
Americans also observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries and memorials. Some people wear a red poppy in remembrance of those fallen in war—a tradition that began with a World War I poem. On a less somber note, many people take weekend trips or throw parties and barbecues on the holiday, perhaps because Memorial Day weekend—the long weekend comprising the Saturday and Sunday before Memorial Day and Memorial Day itself—unofficially marks the beginning of summer.
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