Veterans Day falls on Wednesday, November 11, this year, a midweek holiday that will close government offices across the country while leaving most of the private economy running. Here is how the day came to be, who it honors and what to expect on the calendar.
From Armistice Day to Veterans Day
The date traces back to the end of fighting in World War I. An armistice between the Allied nations and Germany took effect at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, HISTORY recounts. Although the Treaty of Versailles was not signed until June 28, 1919, November 11 stuck in the public mind as the day the war ended.
President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first commemoration of Armistice Day in November 1919. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 calling for an annual observance, and an act approved on May 13, 1938, made November 11 a federal holiday. By then, 27 state legislatures had already made it a legal holiday, according to HISTORY.
After World War II and the Korean War, veterans’ groups lobbied to broaden the day. In 1954, Congress replaced the word “Armistice” with “Veterans,” and President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the change on June 1 of that year, making November 11 a day to honor American veterans of all wars. The Census Bureau describes the holiday as honoring “all those who served their country during war or peacetime.”
The brief experiment with a Monday holiday
The date has not always stayed put. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 moved Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October to give federal workers a three-day weekend, and the first observance under that law fell on October 25, 1971. Many states objected and kept the original date. In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed a law returning the holiday to November 11, starting in 1978, HISTORY reports.
Veterans Day versus Memorial Day
The two holidays are often confused. Memorial Day, in late May, honors service members who died in service to the country. Veterans Day honors all American veterans, living or dead, and especially gives thanks to living veterans who served honorably in war or peacetime, HISTORY notes, citing the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Who is being honored
There were 15.7 million military veterans in the United States in 2024, or 5.9% of the civilian population age 18 and older, according to Census Bureau estimates from the American Community Survey. About 1.7 million of them, or 11.1%, were women.
The veteran population spans generations. In 2024, 31.3% of veterans had served during the Vietnam War era, 29.9% during the post-9/11 period and 25.5% during the Persian Gulf War era, while 2.9% served during the Korean War and 0.4% during World War II. Nearly three in 10 veterans, 29.1%, were 75 or older, and 8.4% were under 35.
What is closed and what is open
Veterans Day is one of the federal holidays observed by the federal government. Most local, state and federal government offices close for the day, HISTORY notes. When November 11 falls on a weekend, the federal government shifts the observance to the Friday before or the Monday after; this year no shift is needed.
Veterans Day appears on the Federal Reserve’s list of holidays observed by the Federal Reserve System, so Federal Reserve Banks will be closed. Commercial banks set their own branch hours, so customers planning transfers or branch visits should check with their own bank.
Stock trading is a different story. Veterans Day is not among the holidays observed by the New York Stock Exchange for 2026, so stock markets are scheduled to trade normally on Wednesday.
Schools, retailers and private employers set their own policies, and practices vary from state to state. Technically, HISTORY notes, the federal government designates holidays only for federal employees and the District of Columbia, but states almost always follow its lead.
How the day is marked
Parades and ceremonies take place in communities around the country. The national observance is held at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, which hosts two major annual remembrance ceremonies at its Memorial Amphitheater, on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Some 5,000 visitors attend each one, according to the cemetery. The Veterans Day program includes an official wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where an unidentified American soldier from World War I was buried on November 11, 1921.
