Veterans Day ranks among the most meaningful observances on the American calendar. It falls on November 11 every year regardless of which day of the week that date happens to land on.
The holiday began under a different name. Originally called Armistice Day, it marked the conclusion of active fighting in World War I, which ended at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, producing one of the most precisely remembered moments in modern history.
The first formal observance came exactly one year later, on November 11, 1919, as the silence that had replaced the guns on the Western Front passed its first anniversary.
Armistice Day became a federal holiday in 1938, still carrying its original name.
The name change came in 1954, following both World War II and the Korean War. Renaming it Veterans Day expanded the holiday’s scope to encompass all Americans who had served honorably in the military, not just those of a single conflict.
A common source of confusion is the difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day. Veterans Day recognizes every living and deceased veteran who served honorably. Memorial Day is specifically dedicated to those who gave their lives during military service.
Veterans Day is unusual among American holidays in that it almost always remains anchored to its historical date rather than being shifted to the nearest Monday for convenience.
That was not always the case. Starting in 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved Veterans Day to the fourth Monday of October. The public reaction was strongly negative, and the holiday was returned to November 11 within a few years.
A small but frequently noted detail: the correct form is Veterans Day, written without an apostrophe. It is a day set aside to honor veterans collectively, not a day that belongs to them in a possessive sense.
Among the most solemn Veterans Day observances each year is the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, which honors both the fallen and all who have served.
President Woodrow Wilson issued the first Armistice Day proclamation in 1919, calling on Americans to pause and reflect on the peace that had been achieved and the cost at which it came.
The legislation that formally changed the holiday’s name to Veterans Day was signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954, a fitting act for a man who had himself commanded Allied forces in World War II.
Credit for the idea of dedicating November 11 to all veterans, rather than just to the armistice itself, is often given to Raymond Weeks, a World War II veteran from Birmingham, Alabama, who organized what is believed to be one of the first all-veterans celebrations in 1947.
The November 11 date connects Veterans Day to similar observances around the world. Canada marks Remembrance Day on the same date, and several European countries observe their own versions of Armistice Day, all rooted in the end of World War I.
The holiday honors those who served in every branch of the American military, including the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Space Force.
New York City traditionally hosts the largest Veterans Day parade in the country, drawing thousands of marchers and spectators each year.
At 11:00 in the morning on Veterans Day, ceremonies across the country observe a moment of silence, marking the precise hour at which the World War I armistice took hold more than a century ago.