Veteran's Triangle

Veterans Triangle

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

Today Veterans Triangle pays homage to United States veterans of foreign wars, although it was originally created in the aftermath of World War I (1914-1918), which formally ended on November 11, 1918.

World War I took the lives of over 8.5 million people, including 57,476 Americans, 13,956 New York State residents and 7,455 inhabitants of New York City. It officially concluded with the signing of the armistice treaty on November 11, 1918. On the one-year anniversary of the date, President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) declared Armistice Day a nationwide holiday.

In the years that followed, 27 states adopted laws declaring November 11 a legal holiday. On June 4, 1926, Congress passed a resolution requesting that the president give the date the official name of ‘Armistice Day’. Twelve years later, in 1938, Armistice Day was made a national holiday.

The onset of another world war brought about a broadening in the scope of the Armistice Day holiday. In World War II (1939-45), the United States lost a total of 407,318 soldiers. Barely two years after the end of the hostilities, the first ‘Veterans Day’ parade, honoring soldiers from both wars, was held in Birmingham, Alabama. In June, 1954 President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) signed a bill officially renaming Armistice Day, Veterans Day. From that time on, Veterans Day has been considered a tribute to those who served during all wars in which the United States was involved. In addition to the national holiday, there are physical memorials to veterans all across the country. This Flushing Park is one such tribute.

Veterans Triangle features a small monument marking the square and a seating area shaded by seven Pin oaks (Quercus palustris) and contains several plantings, including variegated wintercreeper (Euoymus radicans variegata). The triangle is part of the Greenstreets program, a joint project of Parks and Transportation begun in 1986 and revived in 1994. The program’s goal is the conversion of paved street properties, such as triangles and malls, into green spaces.