Memorial Day marks the unofficial beginning of summer for many people, but the true origins of this day are far more important. This is the day of remembrance to honor the soldiers who defended our country over the past 247 years.
The origin of this day dates back to the aftermath of the Civil War when widows of fallen soldiers from the North and South would visit cemeteries and leave flowers on the graves. May 30 was decreed as the date of the first observance, which was initially known as “Decoration Day,” and in 1868, the first Decoration Day ceremony was held at Arlington National Cemetery. This is also the site of the annual ceremony marked by the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Memorial Day only became an official Federal Holiday in 1971, after President Johnson signed a bill into law on June 28, 1968. In 2000, Congress passed a law designed to promote more sober observations of Memorial Day. From 1868 to 1970, it was observed on May 30. Since 1970, it is observed on the last Monday of May.
The “National Moment of Remembrance Act” legally made 3:00 local time on Memorial Day the moment to be observed to raise awareness of and respect for the national heritage and to “encourage citizens to dedicate themselves to the values and principles for which those heroes of the United States died.”
According to the History Channel, “Some people wear a red poppy in remembrance of those fallen in war—a tradition that began with a World War I poem.”
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