Mark your calendars — summer officially begins on June 20 this year.
However, for many people, the season unofficially kicks off on the last weekend of May, or Memorial Day.
Commemorated on the last Monday in May each year, Memorial Day weekend usually means an extra day to put out the patio furniture or invite friends over for a backyard bash.
Memorial Day is one of 11 federal holidays observed each year and is set aside to honor and remember military servicemen and women whose lives were lost while serving their country.
Those who have lost family or friends also use the occasion to visit the graves of their loved ones, leaving flowers or other mementos of remembrance and respect.
However you plan to spend the holiday this year, we've got all the details you need if you're wondering when Memorial Day is in 2024.
Along with the date of the holiday, you'll also learn a bit of history on when Memorial Day was first established, along with how it evolved into the annual observation we recognize today.
When is Memorial Day in 2024?
This year, Memorial Day is on Monday, May 27. Federal and government agencies, schools and most banks will be closed in observance of the holiday, reopening on Tuesday, May 28 for business as usual.
So, if you've got financial transactions to square away or packages to send, make sure to plan ahead of the long weekend.
What is the meaning behind Memorial Day?
In 1868, Memorial Day was officially designated as a day to honor those fallen in service to their country during the Civil War.
According to the Library of Congress, three years after the end of the war, John A. Logan, Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, set aside May 30 for "Soldiers' Memorial Day."
Intended to remember Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the conflict, Logan decreed that the day should be for "strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land.”
Over time, the Memorial Day holiday was expanded to include fallen soldiers from all American wars. In 1971, Congress declared it a national holiday, changing the observance from May 30 to the last Monday in May.
The annual holiday is also referred to as "Decoration Day" in recognition of the flowers, flags and other adornments that decorate the graves of fallen military persons.
How is Memorial Day commemorated?
Each year, many communities across the U.S. hold parades or ceremonies to recognize veterans, active service members and other military personnel.
It's also a day for friends and family to visit the gravesites of loved ones to leave flowers or other mementos in their memory.
To pay tribute to fallen servicemen and women, a wreath is placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in an annual ceremony held at Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia on Memorial Day.
In 2000, Congress signed the "The National Moment of Remembrance Act" into law. From that point forward, citizens were encouraged to pause for a moment of silence to remember those who've died in service to our country at 3 p.m. local time each and every Memorial Day.
If you plan to fly a flag on Memorial Day, it should be flown at half-staff from sunrise to noon, then it should be briskly raised to the top of the staff until sunset.
