Constitution Day and Citizenship Day 2027 is on Friday

About Constitution Day and Citizenship Day

On September 17, 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia signed the document they had spent the summer drafting. It went to the states for ratification and became the framework of the federal government. The day that carries its name looks at both halves of that story: the text itself and the people who hold the rights and duties of citizenship under it.

The citizenship half came first. A joint resolution approved on February 29, 1952, designated September 17 as Citizenship Day, and President Harry Truman issued the first proclamation that July. Congress later renamed it Constitution Day and Citizenship Day in a provision of a spending law, Public Law 108-447, signed on December 8, 2004. The designation is now at 36 U.S.C. 106, and the president may proclaim it each year and call for the flag to be flown on government buildings. A separate statute asks the president to proclaim September 17 to 23 as Constitution Week.

The 2004 law also added a requirement that gives the day its classroom focus. Every school, college and university that receives federal funds must hold an educational program on the Constitution for its students on September 17, and federal agencies must give their employees training material about it. According to the Department of Education's 2005 notice, when September 17 falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the program is held during the week before or after, so many schools mark it on a nearby weekday.

Constitution Day is not a federal holiday. The National Archives, which displays the original signed Constitution in its Rotunda in Washington, DC, offers public programs and online teaching resources for the day, and the annual proclamation invites Americans to mark it in schools, places of worship and other public settings.

Sources: 36 U.S. Code § 106 - Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, with notes on Public Law 108-447 (Cornell Legal Information Institute), Federal Register: Department of Education, Notice of Implementation of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day (May 24, 2005), American Presidency Project: Proclamation 2984, Citizenship Day, 1952, National Archives: Celebrating Constitution Day. How we check dates.

How to mark Constitution Day and Citizenship Day

• Read the Preamble and the Bill of Rights aloud with your family or class, and talk about what each part means in everyday life.
• Look at the high-resolution images of the original Constitution on the National Archives website, or see it in person in the Rotunda in Washington, DC.
• Try the official naturalization civics test questions from USCIS and see how many you can answer.
• Attend a naturalization ceremony if your local federal court opens one to the public, and welcome the new citizens.
• Register to vote or check your registration details with your state election office.

Constitution Day and Citizenship Day dates