Memorial Day was once called Decoration Day. It adopted its name from the Southern, primarily Appalachian, and Liberian tradition to clean and decorate the cemetery where loved ones were laid to rest. Traditional Decoration Day predates Memorial Day.
Decoration Days usually happen in May but often go later into the summer. Families will gather to clean, place flowers, worship, sing, and eat a meal. For some, this may be a solo family tradition, or they join the church and parade into the cemetery with the congregation, whose arms are filled with flowers. Sometimes, these events may coincide with a family reunion so the living ancestors can gather together to clean and decorate the headstones of their loved ones.
While in the United States, this practice can also be seen across the country in places like Texas, Utah, and Missouri. The Decoration Day celebration is believed to be tied to the Welsh Practice called “Flowering Sunday,” where town members would decorate graves with flowers on Palm Sunday. Other countries have similar practices, such as Mexico’s Day of the Dead, China’s Tomb-Sweeping Festival, and Japan’s Bon Festival.
While Memorial Day is officially separate from Decoration Day, many congregations will also use this time to decorate the graves of veterans. Often you will see cemeteries filled with floral arrangements and American flags.
If you want to read more about Decoration Day, I highly recommend the book by Karen Singer and Alan Jabbour. Their book Decoration Day in the Mountains: Traditions of Cemetery Decoration in the Southern Appalachians does a detailed job of explaining the history of the Decoration Day practice.
