Remembrance Day, Veterans Day, Armistice Day: The Differences

by Amy Judd | November 10, 2009 at 02:56 pm

3958 views | 30 Recommendations | 7 comments

Remembrance Day, Veterans Day, and Armistice Day are all celebrated on November 11th, but what are the differences between what the day is called?

They all have the commonality of remembering the sacrifices of both soldiers and civilians during war time, but there are some subtle differences between the days and what they mean.

Remembrance Day commemorates the sacrifices of those made during wartime, but it does specifically point to the First World War as November 11th 1918 was the end of WWI. King George V designated that November 11th would be Remembrance Day in 1919, and the day has ben observed every day since.

Remembrance Day is referred to this way in the Commonwealth Nations, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and South Africa. Some nations make November 11th a holiday, but not all do.

Poppies are also a symbol of Remembrance Day as it was one of the only flowers that would grow on the disturbed and wrecked soil of the battlefields of World War One; it was immortalized in the poem In Flanders Fields by Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.

Why do we wear poppies on Remembrance Day?

In the United States, November 11th is referred to as Veterans Day and is both a federal and state holiday.

It was President Woodrow Wilson who declared November 11th Armistice Day in 1919, which refers to the signing of the armistice between the Allies and the Germans in World War I. In 1938, the 11th of November became a legal holiday in the United States, but it was in 1953 that Al King, a Kansas shoe owner had the idea to expand Armistice Day to remembering all veterans, not just those that died in WWI and to call it 'All' Veterans Day.

President Dwight Eisenhower signed it in to law on May 26, 1954 and then on November 8th that year, congress changed the word 'Armistice' to 'Veterans' and it has been known as Veterans Day ever since. For a while it was moved to the fourth Monday in October, but now it is back to being observed on November 11th every year.

The holiday is commonly printed as Veteran's Day or Veterans' Day in calendars and advertisements. While these spellings are grammatically acceptable, the United States government has declared that the attributive (no apostrophe) rather than the possessive case is the official spelling.[2]

This is not to be confused with Veterans' Day in the United Kingdom, which is celebrated on 27 June and is to commemorate the British men and women who fought and are still fighting in wars. It is not a public holiday in the UK however.

Although not as common anymore, November 11th can still be referred to as Armistice Day and the name comes from the armistice that was signed between the Allied Forces of WWI and Germany to cease all fighting on the Western Front. This signing took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Hostilities did continue on other fronts after this was signed however.

In Italy the end of the war is commemorated on November 4th as that is the day of the Armistice of Villa Giusti, and in Poland this day is considered Polish Independence Day, and it has since been changed to Veterans Day and Remembrance Day in other parts of the world after World War II.

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YankeeJim

at 15:28 on November 10th, 2009

Today I cried my eyes out for the fallen soldiers at Ft. Hood and for those who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, supporting a deficient policy. Bring the troops home now.

a211423

at 15:41 on November 10th, 2009

Beautifully illustrated and written story of Veterans Day/Armistice Day.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 16:26 on November 10th, 2009

Here is a link to the poem "In Flanders Field"

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm

marianmo

at 20:59 on November 10th, 2009

I have recently become involved with the Royal Canadian Legion in my small town.. The members here have been planning the Remembrance Day activities for months..in fact I think the planning begins right after Remembrance Day. Groups of Veterans go out to the schools. to conduct remembrance day ceremonies, to talk with the students about their war experiences. The Legion also sells poppies and wreaths to "celebrate" this important day. This year I was asked to be in charge of the Wreath sales..and I'm pleased to say our community has expressed its support of our Legion, by the purchase of these wreaths which will be laid at the cenotaph tomorrow by members of the comunity.

It is so important to acknowledge our past, to thank those who fought for freedom...who gave of their lives, their family time in order that our country could be free...I am proud to be affilitated with the proud, brave men and women of the Armed Forces past , present and future. Thank you to all who have served our country.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 19:01 on November 11th, 2009

I am also involved with the Royal Canadian Legion and was part of the colour party of our Legion today.

The ceremony was well attended by the people of this small town and members of 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signal Squadron were there (about 30 troops) including the Squadron Commander.

Many of those young soldiers had been in Afghanistan and Bosnia. When the soldiers came into the Legion after the outdoor ceremonies, the town;s people gave them a standing ovation. It was a moving experience.

The outdoor ceremony started with the playing of O Canada, followed by the Last Post, the Lament and Reveille.

Wreaths were then placed on the cenotaph, some of them by families remembering fallen family members.

The ceremony then moved inside and speeches were read on behalf of Prime Minister Harper, the local Member of Parliament, the Provincial Member of the Legislative Assembly, a county councillor and the mayor of the town.

The names of those that had fallen in Afhanistan since November 2008 were read. This was then followed by a service lead by the Legion Chaplain

The ceremony ended with the singing of God Save the Queen.

Babel-Fish

at 12:54 on November 11th, 2009

I always refer to it as poppy day. For years I found it hard to donate and obtain a poppy. However last year and this year I found that British Embassy has helped the British Legion and there are designated pubs in most cities in the Philippines that display poppies and accept donations.

The eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month is where have 1 minute silence a time to remember the dead that have fallen in battles of two world wars. Lets hope we don't have another one.