If you know a Marine, you already know November 10 is not just another day. Text one at 0600 and you will get Happy Birthday back before you finish typing. Here is why, and what the day actually looks like.
Tun Tavern, 1775
On November 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution raising two battalions of Marines to serve as landing forces with the Continental Navy. Tradition holds that the first recruits were signed up at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, with Captain Samuel Nicholas as the first commissioned officer. The Corps was disbanded after the Revolution and re-established in 1798, but Marines count from 1775. In 2026 that makes it the 251st birthday.
Why every Marine celebrates the same way
In 1921, Commandant John A. Lejeune issued Marine Corps Order No. 47, a short summary of the history, mission and tradition of the Corps, and directed that it be read to every command on November 10 each year. It still is. The first formal Birthday Ball followed in 1925 in Philadelphia. Today there are balls at every base and most reserve units, in embassies, aboard ships and in VFW halls, and the ceremony is nearly identical in every one of them.
How the Ball works
- The message. Lejeune's 1921 order is read aloud, followed by the current Commandant's birthday message. Nobody talks during either.
- The cake. It arrives under escort, usually to a drum cadence. It is cut with a Mameluke sword or an NCO sword, never a knife.
- Oldest to youngest. The first slice goes to the guest of honor. The second goes to the oldest Marine present, who hands it to the youngest Marine present. That handoff is the whole point: experience passed to the next generation.
- The toast. Then dinner, then dancing, then the stories that get a little better every year.
Deployed Marines do the same thing with an MRE pound cake and a combat knife. The venue changes. The order does not.
Veterans Day is the next morning
November 11 follows the birthday by a day, which is why the second week of November is the busiest week of the year for anyone who loves a Marine. Two days, two reasons to say thank you.
How to do right by your Marine
Keep it simple and get the details correct. Do not call them a soldier. Semper Fi is a greeting between Marines; from a civilian, a plain Happy Birthday and a handshake lands better. If you are buying a gift, pick something they can wear on November 12 without explaining it. Our Semper Fi tee and Improvise, Adapt, Overcome tee are drawn in-house and printed to order on soft ringspun cotton. For cold mornings, the Semper Fi hoodie does the job. Everything in our Veterans Day collection ships from the USA, and orders placed by October 26 arrive before the 10th. Full cutoffs are on our holiday shipping page.
One note on what we will not do: we do not reproduce the Eagle, Globe and Anchor or any official Marine Corps insignia, and nothing we sell implies endorsement by the Corps. Marines earned that emblem. We just make the shirt they wear next to it.
Happy Birthday, Marines.
Veteran-owned. Built for the mission.