Decoration Day

Memorial Day was initially called “Decoration Day” due to the practice of decorating gravesites of those fallen in battle. Decoration Day dates back to the Civil War when women placed flowers on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers buried at Arlington.

Since the early 1950’s, the U.S. 3d Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), the nation’s honor guard, has placed flags at each of the 285,000 gravesites in Arlington Cemetery on the Thursday before Memorial Day. They patrol the Cemetery 24 hours a day to ensure that all of the flags remain standing until Memorial Day.