Remembrance Sunday is the day the UK remembers the men and women who served and died in the two World Wars and later conflicts. In 2026 it falls on Sunday 8 November, and Armistice Day is on Wednesday 11 November. Here is what happens on both days and how you can take part.
When is Remembrance Sunday?
Remembrance Sunday is always the second Sunday in November, the Sunday closest to 11 November. In 2026 that is Sunday 8 November. Armistice Day itself is always 11 November, which falls on a Wednesday this year.
What happens on Remembrance Sunday
The National Service of Remembrance takes place at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. The King, political leaders, representatives of the Commonwealth and the armed forces lay wreaths, and veterans march past afterwards. The service is broadcast live.
Across the country, towns and villages hold their own services at local war memorials and churches, often with a parade by veterans, cadets, scouts and guides. Times vary, so check your council, parish or local Royal British Legion branch.
The two-minute silence
At 11am on Remembrance Sunday, people across the UK stop for two minutes of silence. The tradition marks the moment the guns fell silent at 11am on 11 November 1918, at the end of the First World War. Many workplaces, schools and shops also observe two minutes' silence at 11am on Armistice Day.
The silence is usually begun and ended by a gun or a bugler playing the Last Post, followed by Reveille.
Why we wear poppies
Red poppies grew on the battlefields of northern France and Belgium after the First World War and were made famous by the poem In Flanders Fields. Since 1921 the Royal British Legion has sold paper poppies to raise money for serving and former members of the armed forces and their families.
Poppies are usually worn from late October until Armistice Day. There is no strict rule about which side to wear one, but most people wear it on the left, over the heart.
How to take part
- Join a service at your local war memorial or watch the national service on television.
- Observe the two-minute silence at 11am, wherever you are.
- Buy a poppy or donate to the Poppy Appeal.
- Visit a war memorial or a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery.
- Talk to children about why the day matters; many schools hold assemblies in the week before.
Words often read on Remembrance Sunday
The fourth verse of Laurence Binyon's For the Fallen, known as the Exhortation, is read at most services. It ends with the line "We will remember them", which everyone repeats.
See all the key dates for the months ahead in our January 2027 calendar and the UK bank holidays for 2027.
When is Remembrance Sunday 2026?
Remembrance Sunday is on Sunday 8 November 2026. It is always the second Sunday in November.
What time is the two-minute silence?
The two-minute silence is held at 11am on Remembrance Sunday. Many people also observe it at 11am on Armistice Day, Wednesday 11 November 2026.
What is the difference between Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day?
Armistice Day is always 11 November, the anniversary of the end of the First World War in 1918. Remembrance Sunday is the second Sunday in November, when the main services take place.
