Veterans Day 2011 Honored With Google Logo (PICTURE)

Google on Friday replaced its homepage logo with a watercolor illustration in honor of Veterans Day.

Most of the letters in the company logo appear cloud-like against a blue sky, while a lone tree adorned with a singe yellow ribbon, a tribute to servicemen and women, stands in the place of the "L".

The U.S. observed its first official Veterans Day on November 11, 1938. The holiday commemorated the World War I armistice, which took effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918.

According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, President Dwight Eisenhower issued the following proclamation on the first Veterans Day:

In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible.

The Washington Post traces the origins of the yellow ribbon as a symbol of remembrance in the U.S.:

According to some oral traditions, women began wearing yellow ribbons in their hair to symbolize that a beloved was away, sometimes in battle. In the 1949 John Ford film “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,” John Wayne famously played a captain who must help two women — one wearing the ribbon of remembrance — evacuate after Custer and his cavalry are wiped out. The film was said to be inspired by the tune, “Round Her Neck She Wore a Yeller Ribbon.”

In observance of the 2011 holiday, President Obama is scheduled to host a Veterans Day breakfast in the White House, followed by a trip to Arlington National Cemetery, where the president will perform the annual laying of a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown at 11 a.m.

On November 10, Google launched the National Resource Directory, a job search engine designed specifically for veterans.

Last year, a controversy erupted over Google's Veterans Day doodle. Some felt the arrangement of letters and graphics had incorporated a crescent moon, a symbol of the Islamic faith.

Check out Google's Veterans Day 2011 logo (below).

WATCH: [via U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs]

Comments

[aletat7]

10:48 AM on 11/11/2011

I like it! Happy Veterans Day...and thank you to all who serves. I just wish America was in a little better shape after so many lives has been lost through the years...It's sad to see her run down but I am thankful for what is left!