--- title: Why Veteran's Day Is Always on November 11 description: How Ronald Reagan explained the reason the American holiday falls on that particular day. canonical: https://time.com/4555301/armistice-day-veterans-day/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-10T16:00:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2024-01-24T12:19:59.000Z article:section: History og:title: Here's How Ronald Reagan Explained Why Nov. 11 Became Veterans Day og:description: The annual observance used to be Armistice Day, until it became Veterans Day in the 1950s og:url: https://time.com/4555301/armistice-day-veterans-day/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30bbbcaece4a6934/6988acb8524fc07c9bdfa170/parade.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Veterans Day og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's How Ronald Reagan Explained Why Nov. 11 Became Veterans Day twitter:description: The annual observance used to be Armistice Day, until it became Veterans Day in the 1950s twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30bbbcaece4a6934/6988acb8524fc07c9bdfa170/parade.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Veteran's Day Is Always on November 11  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:19 PM UTCPublished: Nov 10, 2016 4:00 PM UTC  The Lowry Air Force Base Color Guard in the annual Veterans Day Parade In Denver on Nov. 11, 1963. The Lowry Air Force Base Color Guard in the annual Veterans Day Parade In Denver on Nov. 11, 1963.Dave Mathias—Denver Post / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:19 PM UTCPublished: Nov 10, 2016 4:00 PM UTC As Americans mark Veterans Day on Friday, some citizens may remember when that day was called something totally different: Armistice Day. Within a few years of the end of World War I, [TIME has explained](http://time.com/3572766/veterans-day-history/), Congress decided to commemorate the Nov. 11, 1918, [armistice](http://time.com/3881527/world-war-i-ceasefire-november-11-1918-graphic-2/) that brought the end of that war with an annual celebration of the peace and those who had fought for it. Armistice Day became a national holiday in the 1930s. But by 1954, Congress officially [changed](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,819652,00.html) the name of the day to Veterans Day. What happened in between? In 1982, President Ronald Reagan [explained](https://www.reaganlibrary.archives.gov/archives/speeches/1982/111182a.htm) why the old label for the day had ceased to be applicable: --- > “” --- The occasion for Reagan’s remarks was the presentation of the Presidential Citizens Medal to Raymond Weeks, in recognition of Weeks’ work to honor [American veterans.](http://time.com/3557417/veteran-evolution/) In 1947, Weeks had organized a parade and a Veterans Day in Birmingham, Ala.; that event is [recognized](https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate/vetday.pdf) by the Department of Veterans Affairs as the first usage of the phrase “Veterans Day.” [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter) But Reagan didn’t just explain why it was no longer appropriate for Nov. 11 to be Armistice Day. He also explained why it’s good for a nation to have a Veterans Day instead, with a quote he traced to President Coolidge: “The Nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4555301/armistice-day-veterans-day/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4555301/armistice-day-veterans-day/"},"headline":"Why Veteran's Day Is Always on November 11","datePublished":"2016-11-10T16:00:58.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-24T12:19:59.000Z","description":"The annual observance used to be Armistice Day, until it became Veterans Day in the 1950s. 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