05/25/2026
🇺🇸 Originally called Decoration Day, it was formalized by a "Memorial Day Order" issued by Grand Army of the Republic Commander-in-Chief John A. Logan in 1868.
The modern proclamation calls on Americans "to observe Memorial Day by praying, according to their individual religious faith, for permanent peace."
The GAR order placed the ceremonial observation on May 30 — to ensure availability of "the choicest flowers of springtime" all over the country. "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."
Typical programs involving GAR posts featured parading veterans and ceremonies punctuated with flags, music, and prayer, in the milieu of graves bedecked with flowers and attended by family and public alike.
The commemoration of Decoration Day, or, as it increasingly became known, Memorial Day, continued through the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as an informal patriotic holiday. After World War I, the event was expanded to honor those who died in all America Wars.
The federal government continued to recognize Memorial Day through legislative actions. "The Congressional joint resolution approved May 11, 1950 (64 Stat. 158), has requested the President to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period during each such day when the people of the United States might unite in such supplication.”
📸Photo by Mary Lanphier, “WWI Veterans marching in the Memorial Day Parade a long time ago,” Mount Clemens, Michigan
