List of observances in the United States by presidential proclamation explained

Holiday Name:	Observances in the United States
Observedby:	Federal government
Mdy:	yes
Type:	National

U.S. law provides for the declaration of selected public observances by the President of the United States as designated by Congress or by the discretion of the President.^[1] Generally the President will provide a statement about the purpose and significance of the observance, and call on the people of the United States to observe the day "with appropriate ceremonies and activities". These events are typically to honor or commemorate a public issue or social cause, ethnic group, historic event or noted individual. However, (with several exceptions) there is no requirement that government or business close on these days, and many members of the general public may not be aware that such holidays even exist. Holidays proclaimed in this way may be considered a U.S. "national observance", but it would be improper to refer to them as "federal holidays". Many of these observances designated by Congress are authorized under permanent law under Title 36, U.S. Code, in which cases the President is under obligation to issue an annual proclamation.

In addition to annual commemorative events, the President may proclaim a day or period designated for mourning or prayer after the death of noted officials including U.S. Presidents and Chief Justices of the United States or after major tragic events or disasters with serious casualties.^[2]

The policy of issuing proclamations calling for the observance of special days or events is in 1 CFR Section 19.4, which allows for the responsibility for the preparation and presentation of proposed proclamations calling for the observance of special days, or events to the Director of Management and Budget to such agencies as deemed appropriate. Proposed proclamations shall be submitted at least 60 days in advance of the specified observance, with any approved commemorative proclamations transmitted to the President.^[3]

Annual special days recognized by presidential proclamation

Bold text indicates a public holiday, on which most government agencies and major businesses are closed.

• January 16: Religious Freedom Day
• 3rd Monday in January: Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday^[4]
• 3rd Sunday in January: National Sanctity of Human Life Day
• various March/April: Education and Sharing Day (based on Hebrew calendar)
• February 15: Susan B. Anthony Day
• March 10: Harriet Tubman Day
• March 19: National Day of Honor^[5]
• March 25: Greek Independence Day^[6]
• March 29: National Vietnam War Veterans Day^{[7] [8]}
• March 31: Cesar Chavez Day^[9]
• March 31: Transgender Day of Visibility^[10]
• April 6: National Tartan Day
• 2nd Thursday in April: National D.A.R.E. Day
• April 9: National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day
• April 14: Pan American Day and Pan American Week
• May 1: Loyalty Day
• May 1: Law Day, U.S.A.
• May 15: Peace Officers Memorial Day
• 1st Thursday in May: National Day of Prayer
• 2nd Friday in May: Military Spouse Day
• 2nd Sunday in May: Mother's Day
• 3rd Friday in May: National Defense Transportation Day and National Transportation Week
• 3rd Saturday in May: Armed Forces Day
• May 22: National Maritime Day
• May 25: National Missing Children's Day^[11]
• last Monday in May: Memorial Day^[12]
• 1st Monday in June: National Child's Day
• June 14: Flag Day and National Flag Week
• June 19: Juneteenth^[13]
• 3rd Sunday in June: Father's Day
• July 27: National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day^[14]
• last Sunday in July: Parent's Day
• August 16: National Airborne Day
• August 26: Women's Equality Day
• 1st Monday in September: Labor Day
• 1st Sunday after Labor Day: National Grandparents' Day
• weekend before September 11: National Days of Prayer and Remembrance
• September 11: Patriot Day
• September 11: Emergency Number Day^[15]
• 3rd Friday in September National POW/MIA Recognition Day
• September 17: Constitution Day and Citizenship Day and Constitution Week
• September 22: American Business Women's Day
• September 28: National Good Neighbor Day
• 4th Monday in September: Family Day
• last Sunday in September: Gold Star Mother's Day
• 1st Monday in October: Child Health Day
• October 6: German-American Day
• 2nd Monday in October: Columbus Day^[16]
• October 9: Leif Erikson Day
• October 11: General Pulaski Memorial Day
• October 15: White Cane Safety Day
• October 24: United Nations Day
• November 9: World Freedom Day
• November 11: Veterans Day^[17]
• November 15: National Philanthropy Day^{[18] [19]}
• November 15: America Recycles Day
• 4th Thursday in November: Thanksgiving Day^[20]
• Friday after Thanksgiving: Native American Heritage Day^[21]
• December 1: World AIDS Day
• December 3: International Day of Persons with Disabilities^[22]
• December 7: National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
• December 10: Human Rights Day and Human Rights Week
• December 15: Bill of Rights Day
• December 17: Wright Brothers Day

Annual special weeks recognized by presidential proclamation

• 1st week of March: Save Your Vision Week
• 3rd week of March: National Poison Prevention Week
• last week of April: National Volunteer Week
• varies in April: Crime Victims' Rights Week
• varies in April: National Park Week^[23]
• first week of May: Public Service Recognition Week^[24]
• third week of May: World Trade Week^[25]
• third week of May: National Hurricane Preparedness Week
• week prior to Memorial Day: National Safe Boating Week
• third week of July: Captive Nations Week
• 3rd week of September: National Farm Safety and Health Week
• varies in September: National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week
• week of October 9: Fire Prevention Week
• week of 2nd Sunday in October: National School Lunch Week
• week of 3rd Sunday in October: National Forest Products Week
• 3rd week in October: National Character Counts Week
• varies in October: Minority Enterprise Development Week
• week prior to Thanksgiving: National Farm-City Week
• week of Thanksgiving: National Family Week
• August 16–22: National Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Week^[26]

Annual special months recognized by presidential proclamation

• January: National Mentoring Month^[27]
• January: Stalking Awareness Month^[28]
• January: Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month^{[29] [30]}
• February: American Heart Month
• February: Black History Month
• February: Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month^{[31] [32] [33] [34]}
• March: American Red Cross Month
• March: Women's History Month
• March: Irish-American Heritage Month^[35]
• April: Arab American Heritage Month^[36]
• April: Cancer Control Month^[37]
• April: National Donate Life Month
• April: National Child Abuse Prevention Month
• April: National Sexual Assault Awareness Month
• April: National Financial Literacy Month
• May: Older Americans Month
• May: Jewish American Heritage Month^[38]
• May: Asian Pacific American Heritage Month^{[39] [40]}
• May: Mental Health Awareness Month
• May: National Physical Fitness and Sports Month
• May: National Foster Care Month
• June: Gay and Lesbian Pride Month
• June: Caribbean-American Heritage Month^{[41] [42] [43]}
• June: Great Outdoors Month^[44]
• June: National Oceans Month
• June: African-American Music Appreciation Month
• July: National Ice Cream Month^[45]
• September: National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
• September: National Sickle Cell Awareness Month^[46]
• September: National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month
• September: National Ovarian and Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
• September: National Wilderness Month
• September: National Preparedness Month^[47]
• September: National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month^[48]
• September: Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
• September 15 – October 15: National Hispanic Heritage Month^[49]
• October: National Information Literacy Awareness Month^[50]
• October: Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month
• October: Country Music Month ^[51]
• October: National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
• October: National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
• October: National Arts & Humanities Month
• October: National Disability Employment Awareness Month
• October: National Cyber Security Awareness Month
• October: National Energy Awareness Month
• October:National Down Syndrome Awareness Month
• November: National Entrepreneurship Month^[52]
• November: Military Family Month
• November: National Bone Marrow Donor Awareness Month
• November: National Hospice Month
• November: National Adoption Month
• November: National Family Caregivers Month
• November: National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month
• November: National Diabetes Month
• November: National American Indian Heritage Month
• November: National Critical Infrastructure Protection Month^[53]
• December: National Impaired Driving Prevention Month

Defunct observances

The following observances have been mandated or authorized by Congress or the President, but are no longer proclaimed or observed on a regular basis.

• March 21 (1982–1988): Afghanistan Day^[54]
• June 14 (1982–1992): Baltic Freedom Day
• June 25, 1987: National Catfish Day
• October 6, 1972: National Coaches Day

See also

• Public holidays in the United States
• Federal holidays in the United States
• Presidential Proclamation
• List of month-long observances

External links

• United States Code Title 36, Subtitle I, Part A, Chapter 1: Patriotic and National Observances
• Presidential Proclamations Project, University of Houston
• Proclamations from Washington to Obama (1789-present) at the American Presidency Project

Notes and References

1. Straus, Jacob R. and Jared C. Nagel. Commemorative Days, Weeks, and Months: Background and Current Practice. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, 2016.
2. Presidential Proclamations Project, University of Houston. Web site: Untitled Document . 2009-09-17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091214095042/http://www.polsci.uh.edu/database/procdatabase.asp . December 14, 2009 . mdy-all .
3. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 1, Section 19.4 http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2014-title1-vol1/xml/CFR-2014-title1-vol1-sec19-4.xml
4. Established by Congress 1983, first observed 1986.
5. Web site: Presidential Proclamation -- National Day of Honor. March 19, 2012. National Archives. whitehouse.gov. March 22, 2018.
6. Web site: President Donald J. Trump Proclaims March 25, 2017, as Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy. March 25, 2017. National Archives. whitehouse.gov. March 5, 2018.
7. News: President Donald J. Trump Signs S. 305 into Law. 2018-03-11. National Archives. whitehouse.gov. en-US.
8. News: President Trump signs law declaring National Vietnam War Veterans Day. Wolf. Mackenzie. 2017-10-16. Military Times. 2018-03-11. en-US.
9. Web site: Presidential Proclamation--Cesar Chavez Day. https://archive.today/20120714023107/http://m.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/30/presidential-proclamation-cesar-chavez-day. dead. July 14, 2012. March 30, 2011.
10. Web site: Presidential Proclamation--Transgender Day of Visibility. March 31, 2022.
11. Web site: News Releases from NCMEC.
12. Memorial Day was made an official observance by Congress in 1950 on May 30, Uniform Holiday Law in 1968 set date as last Monday in May.
13. A federal holiday celebrating the emancipation of African American slaves. It became a federal holiday on June 17, 2021.
14. originally ended 2003, reinstated in 2009
15. Web site: Proclamation 5696 -- 9 - 1 - 1 Emergency Number Day, 1987.
16. Observed on October 12 beginning 1934. Since 1971, observed on second Monday of October per Uniform Holiday Law
17. Observed as Armistice Day from 1919-54. Between 1971-78, observed on fourth Monday of October per Uniform Holiday Law
18. signed into observance by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.
19. Web site: Ronald Reagan: Remarks on the Observance of National Philanthropy Day.
20. Oldest proclaimed observance in US history, dating back to 1863 with Abraham Lincoln.
21. Designated under Native American Heritage Day Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-33)
22. Web site: International Day of Persons With Disabilities, 2011: a presidential document by the executive office of the president on 12/08/2011. Federal Register. January 25, 2011. December 2, 2011. Obama, B.. Barack Obama.
23. Web site: President Donald J. Trump Proclaims April 15 through April 23, 2017, as National Park Week. April 14, 2017. National Archives. whitehouse.gov. March 5, 2018.
24. Web site: Presidential Proclamation -- Public Service Recognition Week, 2016. April 29, 2016. National Archives. whitehouse.gov. March 5, 2018.
25. Web site: Presidential Proclamation -- World Trade Week, 2016. May 13, 2016. National Archives. whitehouse.gov. April 2, 2018.
26. Web site: Presidential Proclamation -- National Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Week, 2015. whitehouse.gov. National Archives. August 14, 2015.
27. Web site: Presidential Proclamation--Mentoring Month. whitehouse.gov. National Archives. December 21, 2010.
28. Web site: Presidential Proclamation--Stalking Awareness Month. whitehouse.gov. National Archives. December 21, 2010.
29. Web site: Presidential Proclamation--National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. whitehouse.gov. National Archives. December 22, 2010.
30. Web site: January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month: Join the Fight Homeland Security. www.dhs.gov. January 3, 2017. en. May 11, 2017.
31. Web site: Presidential Proclamation -- National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. January 31, 2013. National Archives. whitehouse.gov. February 8, 2019.
32. Web site: Presidential Proclamation -- National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. January 31, 2014. National Archives. whitehouse.gov. February 8, 2019.
33. Web site: Presidential Proclamation -- National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. January 30, 2015. National Archives. whitehouse.gov. February 8, 2019.
34. Web site: Presidential Proclamation -- National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. January 30, 2016. National Archives. whitehouse.gov. February 8, 2019.
35. Web site: President Donald J. Trump Proclaims March 2018 as Irish-American Heritage Month. February 28, 2018. National Archives. whitehouse.gov. March 5, 2018.
36. Web site: House . The White . 2023-03-31 . A Proclamation on Arab American Heritage Month, 2023 . 2023-05-18 . The White House . en-US.
37. Web site: Presidential Proclamation -- National Cancer Control Month, 2016. March 31, 2016. National Archives. whitehouse.gov. March 5, 2018.
38. Observed beginning 2006, formerly "Jewish Heritage Week" (1980-2005).
39. Observed as Asian Pacific American Heritage Week until 1990.
40. Web site: House . The White . 2023-03-31 . The White House . en-US.
41. Web site: Caribbean Net News: US House of Representatives approves Bill to create Caribbean American Heritage Month . 2005-06-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080612145328/http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2005/06/28/approves.shtml . 2021-11-20. June 12, 2008 .
42. Web site: Caribbean Net News: First Caribbean-American Heritage Month proclamation signed by President Bush . https://web.archive.org/web/20080612145333/http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000019/001954.htm . 2021-11-20. June 12, 2008 .
43. Web site: Caribbean-American Heritage Month, 2006. National Archives. whitehouse.gov.
44. Web site: Great Outdoors Month. National Park Service. May 9, 2022. May 31, 2022.
45. Web site: An Investigation Into the Delicious Origins of Ice Cream. Andrew . Romano . Daily Beast. July 13, 2014. March 10, 2018.
46. Web site: NHLBI Sickle Cell Resources . NHLBI, NIH . en. August 28, 2017 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170828105349/https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/sickle-cell-awareness . August 28, 2017 .
47. Web site: September is National Preparedness Month. Federal Emergency Management Agency. September 1, 2016. March 10, 2018 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20180311142923/https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2016/09/01/september-national-preparedness-month . Mar 11, 2018 .
48. Web site: Proclamation 8554—National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, 2010 . Barack . Obama . The American Presidency Project . September 1, 2010 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20161020110450/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=88380 . Oct 20, 2016 .
49. Observed as National Hispanic Heritage Week beginning in 1968, became a month-long event in 1989
50. Web site: October 1, 2009 . Presidential Proclamation National Information Literacy Awareness Month . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161020173323/https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-proclamation-national-information-literacy-awareness-month . Oct 20, 2016 . White House.
51. Web site: Nader . Amira . Why Richard Nixon Declared October Country Music Month . Studio 360 . WNYC . 15 September 2021. October 28, 2014.
52. Web site: Presidential Proclamation -- National Entrepreneurship Month, 2012. whitehouse.gov. National Archives. November 1, 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231205030445/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/11/01/presidential-proclamation-national-entrepreneurship-month-2012/ . Dec 5, 2023 .
53. Web site: Presidential Proclamation on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month, 2019 . October 31, 2019 . The White House . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231205084447/https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-critical-infrastructure-security-resilience-month-2019/ . Dec 5, 2023 .
54. Web site: Proclamation 4908—Afghanistan Day . Ronald . Reagan . The American Presidency Project . March 10, 1982 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20161020105201/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=42249 . Oct 20, 2016 .