Half-Staff Days · Last Monday in May
Memorial Day
The day America honors the service members who died in its wars — and the only half-staff day that lasts just half a day.
When: Last Monday in May · How long: Sunrise to noon, then raised to full staff · Flags: United States & Texas
Memorial Day honors the American service members who died in the nation’s wars. It began as Decoration Day after the Civil War, when families decorated soldiers’ graves, and became a federal holiday observed on the last Monday in May in 1971.
It is the only half-staff day that lasts just half a day. The flag flies low through the morning in mourning, then is raised briskly to full staff at noon — a long-standing custom meaning that the living carry on, and that those who fell did not die in vain.
The other half-staff days: Peace Officers Memorial Day · Korean War Veterans Armistice Day · Patriot Day · National Fallen Firefighters Memorial · Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day · All observances on one page