The first national Decoration Day was observed in the United States on May 30, 1868.
The date followed General John A. Logan’s General Order No. 11, issued on May 5 of that year. Logan asked Americans to decorate the graves of Civil War dead, and ceremonies were held at cemeteries in communities across the country.
The first large national ceremony took place at Arlington National Cemetery. General James Garfield, who later became president, delivered remarks, and participants decorated the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers. The date was chosen because it was not the anniversary of a particular battle.
May 30 remained the traditional observance date for more than a century. In 1971, the federal holiday moved to the last Monday in May under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. Local and state observances can still follow different customs.