52 Memorial Day Instagram Captions (+Canva Templates!)

Since 1775, America has seen over one million casualties of war. That’s one million individuals, one million families of those individuals, and to be quite frank, one million reasons to dedicate all of your Instagram content surrounding this holiday to our fallen troops—not the summer, not the beach, not the day off of work.

So read on for Memorial Day captions and ready-to-post images you can use to pay your respects.

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Memorial Day Instagram posts and templates

All of the images in this post are in the correct 1:1 aspect ratio for Instagram. If you want to use the images as-is, open this blog post on your mobile device and save the images to your camera roll right off the post. If you want to customize them, you can access all of the images in this Canva template.

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Find social media ideas for every day of the year using our social media calendar template!

Patriotic Memorial Day Instagram captions

Use these Memorial Day captions to remind your followers what’s at the core of this holiday.

• Today, we honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. The heroes of America.
• Today is a day to honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and to also support the family members of those we have lost.
• Now and forever, we remember. Never forget, forever honor.
• To the men and women who gave their lives protecting our freedom: We are forever in your debt. We thank you. We proudly remember you.
• We can never repay, but we will ever respect, those who gave their lives for our freedom.
• Today is a day to remember our fallen service members for their ultimate sacrifice.
• Today and together, we proudly pay homage to those who have given up their lives to protect our freedom.
• Remember those who served. All gave some, some gave all.
• Land of the free, because of the brave
• Red, white, blue, and woo-hoo! It’s Memorial Day

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Inspiring Memorial Day captions

This category of Memorial Day Instagram captions can be used to inspire your followers to reflect a little deeper on the meaning of the holiday.

• Today, we remember service, sacrifice, and selflessness.
• Everything you do today of your own free will, do it in remembrance of those who sacrificed their lives to make it possible.
• Take a minute today to stop and really think about what this day is about. Give our fallen soldiers the recognition they deserve.
• To all our fallen heroes: your legacy lives on forever in the memory and heart of the nation.
• Think today about the virtues we celebrate on Memorial Day: service, sacrifice, loyalty. Stay conscious of those virtues today and make the extra effort to demonstrate them. We can never bring back our fallen soldiers, but we can honor them in our daily actions.
• Let’s use today to count our blessings and stand proud.
• One word that resonates with us on Memorial Day is #inspiration Today and every day, we’re inspired by the brave men and women who have served our country
• There’s never a shortage of inspiring stories from the brave men and women who have served our country! Do you know a veteran in your life with an inspiring story? Tag them in the comments below and we’ll shout you out on our page!

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Get more Memorial Day messages you can use on Instagram.

Memorial Day quotes to use on Instagram

Here are some Memorial Day quotes you can use as Instagram captions.

• “The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared.” – George S. Patton Jr
• “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” – Nathan Hale
• “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” – Joseph Campbell
• “Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. it flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.” – Unknown
• “Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.” – Charles de Gaulle
• “America without her soldiers would be like God without His angels.” – Claudia Pemberton
• “I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty and freedom. It is the history of our nation, and it’s marked by the blood of those who died defending it.” – John Thune
• “The willingness of America’s veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude.” – Jeff Miller
• “Over all our happy country, over all our Nation spread, is a band of noble heroes–is our Army of the Dead.” – Will Carleton
• “In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
• “Freedom lies in being bold.” – Robert Frost
• “Give me liberty or give me death!” – Patrick Henry
• “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” – John F. Kennedy
• “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes” – Maya Angelou
• “I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom.” – Bob Dylan
• “Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

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Make a plan to market across channels during Memorial Day and beyond using our full-year marketing calendar!

Fact-based Memorial Day captions

We all know what Memorial Day is, but few of us know the real details behind the holiday. Incorporate some of these Memorial Day facts into your captions.

• Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day, as men and women would decorate the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers.
• It originated in the years after the Civil War (1865), but it wasn’t a federal holiday until 1971.
• Every Memorial Day at 3:00 p.m. local time, a national moment of remembrance takes place.
• In 1966, the federal government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day.
• According to legend, “founder” General John A. Logan chose May 30 because it was one of the few days that didn’t fall on the anniversary of a Civil War battle. Some, though some historians believe the date was selected to ensure that flowers across the country would be in full bloom.
• More than 36 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home to celebrate Memorial Day with friends and family What are you doing to celebrate Memorial Day? Share in the comments below and we’ll pin our top picks!

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Words to use in your Memorial Day Instagram captions

If you want to build something from scratch, here are some words to use for your Memorial Day Instagram captions:

At the end of the day, Memorial Day marketing isn’t a bad thing, and I know that in the big scheme of things, an Instagram caption is a drop in the bucket, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use your Memorial Day social media posts to give our fallen troops the respect and recognition they deserve. Hopefully, these captions, quotes, and words have equipped you to do just that and can become a big part of your May content plan. For more help with your Memorial Day marketing, see how our solutions can help you maximize your campaigns.

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All of the post images are customizable in this Canva template link.

For more holiday Instagram captions, check out the following: