Columbus Day

Columbus Day is a legal federal public holiday of the United States, and it has no acronym. The Government Portal (USAGov) of the General Services Administration publishes it. The Office of Personnel Management applies its statutory basis to federal employees.

It marks the landing of Christopher Columbus in the New World on October 12, 1492. It began as a national observance in 1937 and moved to the second Monday in October in 1971. The fixed date was October 12. Then Public Law 90-363 of June 28, 1968 moved it, following the joint resolution of April 30, 1934.

It is not an economic indicator or statistical survey, so it has no level, no diffusion value, no sample, no weights and no seasonal adjustment. It applies under Section 6103 of Title 5 to federal employees and offices, and it is one of 12 federal holidays. It extends to banks, post offices and bond markets, while states, localities and private businesses vary and none must close.

It is observed every year on the second Monday in October, between October 8 and 14, always a Monday, so it never shifts. The President signs a proclamation each year naming that date, as the 2023 proclamation named October 9, 2023. The proclamation appears in the Federal Register the following week. It calls for the flag on public buildings and for ceremonies, and Section 107 of Title 36 requests this proclamation each year.

Since 2021 a separate Indigenous Peoples' Day proclamation names the same Monday without changing the legal name. The Office of Personnel Management publishes the yearly schedule, which lists Monday, October 14, 2024 as Columbus Day. The general federal rule moves a Saturday holiday to the Friday before and a Sunday holiday to the Monday after.

Federal offices, banks, post offices and bond markets close that day, while stock markets trade normal hours. Only Congress can change the date by statute.

No market forces move this holiday; five fixed elements shape that Monday.

• Statutory date rule: fixes the holiday to the second Monday in October and anchors all else.
• Annual presidential proclamation: names the year's date and calls for the flag and ceremonies.
• Federal-employee schedule: applies the law to pay, leave and substitute days.
• Bank and postal observance: the Federal Reserve closes its branches under the K.8 holiday schedule, and the Postal Service closes its offices.
• Market split: the SIFMA fixed-income close recommendation shuts bonds, while the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq stay open.

On October 8, 2021 the President signed two proclamations for one day, Monday, October 11, 2021. Proclamation 10281 carried the Columbus Day name, and Proclamation 10283 carried the Indigenous Peoples' Day name for the first time.

The Columbus Day proclamation cited the voyage 529 years earlier and the resolution of April 30, 1934 as modified in 1968. The legal name stayed Columbus Day because only Congress can change it. Both were filed on October 13, 2021, while federal offices, banks and post offices closed and stocks traded normal hours.

1. Fixed calendar rule: Columbus Day is the second Monday of October, the first Monday plus 7 days, always between October 8 and 14.
2. Calendar steps: take October 1, find the first Monday, then add 7 days.
3. Check example: the official schedule lists Monday, October 14, 2024 as Columbus Day, the second Monday of that month.