36 U.S.C. § 117
Section 117 · Mothers Day
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case Stearns v. Veterans of Foreign Wars (1975)
Most recently applied in 705 F. Supp. 2d 1039 - Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. Obama (April 2010)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Designation.—The second Sunday in May is Mother's Day.
(b) Proclamation.—The President is requested to issue a proclamation calling on United States Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings, and on the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places, on Mother's Day as a public expression of love and reverence for the mothers of the United States.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 117(a) 36:142 (words before comma). May 8, 1914, Pub. R. 25, 38 Stat. 770. 117(b) 36:141.36:142 (words after comma). In subsection (b), the text of 36:142 (words after comma) is omitted as unnecessary.