Decoration Day: The Origin of Memorial Day

Every American is very familiar with Memorial Day but we bet that few know about its true origin as "Decoration Day".

Kastner Insurance Group is a veteran-owned business, so it's obvious why military holidays mean the world to us. There is no more somber reminder of military sacrifice than Memorial Day. This Memorial Day we decided to do a deep dive into the origin of this national holiday and how it first started as "Decoration Day".

The history of Memorial Day dates back all the way to the end of the Civil War when families were honoring the fallen soldiers through local ceremonies of their own.

John Logan who was head of a Union veterans organization called  the "Grand Army of the Republic" issued a proclamation asking all American's to decorate Civil War soldiers' graves with the most beautiful blooms they could find  as part of a ceremony that would take place on May 30th. Logan stated that this would be “designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country.”  On May 30, 1868 about 5,000 people gathered at Arlington National Cemetery for the first official "Decoration Day". Citizens arrived with flowers and each grave was decorated with a small American flag, marking the first national holiday of this kind. 

By the end of the 19th century "Decoration Day" had caught on throughout the country and was celebrated annually on May 30th, but by this time the name had evolved and people started to refer to it amongst themselves as "Memorial Day".

Eventually Congress made the name change official in 1967 and the following year they passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which declared that certain federal holidays would be observed on Mondays, including Memorial Day, which was to be commemorated annually on the last Monday in May.

Nowadays Memorial Day honors all Americans who have died in military service and is an extremely important observance among the nation. 

We hope that this blog helped you to learn a little more about the history of Memorial Day.

As a veteran owned business, we are PROUD to be American and we display the flag outside of our office at all times.

Military holidays are important reminders of the dedication and sacrifice of our armed service members every day. Freedom is not free, and that is never lost on us.

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