Armistice Day marks the end of fighting in World War I and is commemorated each year on 11 November.

Core date

  • The World War I armistice between the Allies and Germany was signed on 11 November 1918 in a railway carriage near Compiègne, France.
  • Hostilities on the Western Front officially ceased at 11:00 a.m. that day, remembered as “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.”

What Armistice Day is

  • Armistice Day is an annual day of remembrance on 11 November to mark the end of World War I and to honor those who died in that conflict and later wars.
  • In many countries it is also known as Remembrance Day, and in the United States it evolved into Veterans Day, still kept on 11 November.

First observance

  • The first formal Armistice Day commemoration was held on the first anniversary of the armistice, in November 1919.
  • Since then, annual ceremonies on 11 November have included silence, wreath‑laying, and memorial services at war monuments and tombs of unknown soldiers.