Veterans Day falls on Wednesday, November 11, 2026. Unlike many federal holidays, it is not moved to a Monday to create a long weekend. The date itself is the point: it marks the moment the fighting stopped in the First World War.

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day

On November 11, 1918, an armistice between the Allies and Germany took effect at 11 a.m., ending the fighting on the Western Front. The war was not formally over until the Treaty of Versailles was signed the following year, but November 11 became the day people remembered as the end of what was then called the Great War.

In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first anniversary as Armistice Day, to be observed with parades, public meetings and a brief pause in business at 11 a.m. Congress later passed a resolution in 1926 calling for annual observances, and in 1938 Armistice Day became a legal federal holiday, dedicated to the cause of world peace.

From Armistice Day to Veterans Day

The Second World War and the Korean War sent millions more Americans into service. Veterans’ groups argued that a holiday honoring only the veterans of one war no longer made sense. In 1954, Congress changed the name to Veterans Day, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower, himself a former general, signed the change into law. The holiday now honors all American veterans, of every war and of peacetime service.

The Monday experiment

In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved several federal holidays to Mondays to give workers more three-day weekends. Veterans Day was shifted to the fourth Monday in October starting in 1971.

The change was unpopular. Many states kept celebrating on November 11 anyway, and veterans’ organizations pushed hard to restore the original date because of its historical meaning. In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed a law returning Veterans Day to November 11, effective in 1978. It has stayed there since.

When November 11 falls on a Saturday, federal workers usually get the preceding Friday off; when it falls on a Sunday, they get the following Monday.

Veterans Day vs. Memorial Day

The two holidays are often confused, but they have different purposes:

  • Veterans Day, on November 11, honors everyone who has served in the U.S. armed forces, living or dead, with an emphasis on thanking living veterans.
  • Memorial Day, on the last Monday in May, honors those who died while serving.

That is why “thank you for your service” fits Veterans Day, while Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for the fallen.

What is open and closed

Veterans Day is a federal holiday. Federal offices and post offices close, and there is no regular mail delivery. Many banks close because the Federal Reserve is closed, but stock markets usually stay open. Schools and private businesses vary, so check locally.

Many restaurants and retailers offer free meals or discounts for veterans and active-duty service members, usually with proof of service. Offers vary by location and change each year.

The same day around the world

Many other countries mark November 11 too. In the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and other Commonwealth countries it is Remembrance Day, when people wear red poppies and observe two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. In France and Belgium, Armistice Day remains a public holiday.

What we think

Veterans Day stayed on November 11 because veterans insisted the date mattered more than a long weekend, and they were right. It connects today’s service members to a specific moment when a devastating war ended.

The holiday is about the living. The simplest way to mark it is also the best: thank a veteran you know, ask about their service if they want to talk about it, and remember that support for veterans’ health care, jobs and housing matters on every other day of the year as well.