A Guide to Patriotic Holidays in the United States

Hello fellow sports fans! How was your Memorial Day weekend?

For most of us, it’s a nice 3 day weekend, the unofficial start to summer, and a great excuse for a picnic or cookout with family and friends. For many people, including those in the metro-Atlanta area where I live, it’s the beginning of a long vacation for the kids, as school is out for the summer!

As I was scanning through my Facebook feed over the weekend, I started wondering how many people stop to think about what Memorial Day is really all about.  Or what any of the “patriotic” holidays are really all about, for that matter.  I’m also just getting started reading Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, and the Revolutionary War and the founding fathers are on my mind.  So for this week’s post, I decided to do a little research and share what I learned about these holidays.

Here are 12 days I consider to be “patriotic,” in the order they occur during the calendar year:

Washington’s Birthday or President’s Day

Washington’s Birthday was established as a federal holiday in 1885 to celebrate the life and contributions of George Washington, the first United States president and general of the American Revolution.  In some states, the holiday is called “President’s Day” because it also commemorates President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.  The holiday occurs on the third Monday of February, near both presidents’ birthdays.

 

Armed Forced Day

Armed Forces Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in May. The day was created in 1950 to honor Americans serving in the five U.S. military branches – the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Coast Guard – following the consolidation of the military services in the U.S. Department of Defense.

 

Memorial Day

Celebrated on the last Monday of May, Memorial Day is a federal holiday that commemorates men and women who have died while serving the United States. It was first instituted to remember soldiers who died in the Civil War, and was originally called “Decoration Day” because of the tradition of decorating soldiers’ graves.

 

Flag Day

June 14th is Flag Day, commemorating the official adoption of the US flag by the Second Continental Congress in 1777.  It celebrates the history and symbolic meaning of the American flag, and is also an opportunity to remember those who fight to protect it and the nation for which it stands.

 

Independence Day

Independence Day, or the Fourth of July, marks the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the first Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.  Every July 4th, Americans celebrate this federal holiday with parades, fireworks, games, and patriotic music, following Thomas Jefferson’s direction that “It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

 

Patriot Day

September 11 has been designated as “Patriot Day” in honor of those who perished in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  Flags are flown at half-staff, Americans are asked to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46am EST to honor the innocent victims who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks.

 

Constitution Day

Constitution Day is celebrated on September 17th, memorializing the date that the Constitution was signed in 1787. Previously known as “Citizenship Day”, it became an official federal holiday called “Constitution Day” in 2004. On this day, students learn about the constitution and the rights it ensures.

 

Columbus Day

Columbus Day is a federal holiday celebrated on the second Monday of October.  On October 12, 1492, Italian navigator Christopher Columbus landed in the New World.

 

Election Day

The Tuesday following the first Monday of November is Election Day, when ballots are cast for elected officials, including the President and the House of Representatives.

 

Veterans Day

Veterans Day is celebrated on November 11th to commemorate all veterans of the US military. The federal holiday occurs to memorialize the Armistice which ended World War I on that date in 1918. It was proclaimed a holiday by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954.

 

Pearl Harbor Day

On the morning of December 7, 1941, the United States suffered 3,435 casualties when Japanese bombers staged a surprise attack on U.S. military and naval forces in Hawaii. The next day, before a joint session of Congress, President Roosevelt asked Congress for a declaration of war against Japan. President Roosevelt’s message conveyed the national outrage over the Pearl Harbor attack by pronouncing December 7, 1941 “a date which will live in infamy.”

 

Bill of Rights Day

December 15th is Bill of Rights Day, celebrating the addition of the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution on that day in 1791. This holiday celebrates the freedoms and rights that the Bill of Rights preserves for Americans.

 

How many of these holidays do you recognize or celebrate?  I consider myself to be pretty patriotic, and wear the red, white and blue quite frequently, but a few of these are ones I never paid much attention to in the past.  So I’m adding days like Constitution Day and Bills of Rights Day to me calendar!

See you next week!

Carrie