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When is Memorial Day? This year, as early as possible

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by Addy Bink - 05/17/26 9:42 AM ET

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by Addy Bink - 05/17/26 9:42 AM ET

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(NEXSTAR) – Memorial Day, the unofficial start to summer with a simple but important significance, is fast-approaching. In fact, it’s approaching as fast as possible.

For more than 160 years, the U.S. has been observing Memorial Day in some form or another. It was formally declared a national holiday by Congress in 1968.

Back in 1866, Waterloo, New York, held a city-wide “Decoration Day,” encouraging citizens to place memorials on the graves of soldiers.

Two years later, Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, the head of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans, established the first-ever national Decoration Day, a time for Americans to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. He moved the day to May 30, a time when flowers would be in bloom.

Until World War I, Decoration Day honored those who fought in the Civil War. In the decades since its inception, the day became better known as Memorial Day. Congress designated it as a national holiday through the Uniform Holiday Bill passed in 1968, and moved it from May 30 to the last Monday of the month.

That means, unlike the holiday it’s often confused with, Memorial Day lands on a different date every year. The latest it can be is, of course, May 31 — the date on which it falls in 2027.

Alternatively, the earliest Memorial Day can arrive is May 25, as it does this year.

Memorial Day last fell on May 25 in 2020. After this year, we won’t have another May 25 Memorial Day again until 2037, so enjoy the early three-day weekend while you can.

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