Verified reporting
Verified reporting: 251 years since the founding resolution
Marines around the world are marking the 251st birthday of the United States Marine Corps today, Tuesday, November 10, 2026. The date commemorates a resolution the Continental Congress adopted in Philadelphia on Friday, November 10, 1775, eight months before the Declaration of Independence.
According to the Journals of the Continental Congress, the resolution directed "That two Battalions of marines be raised," and specified that no one be appointed or enlisted "but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve to advantage by sea when required." It said the units would be known as "the first and second battalions of American Marines."
In his official 251st birthday message, dated November 10, 2026, Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Eric M. Smith wrote that the Corps has been "our Nation's premier expeditionary force in readiness," pointing to a line of service from "our first amphibious landing 250 years ago at Nassau" to Iwo Jima, Inchon and Afghanistan. He also wrote: "At this very hour, 40,000 Marines are forward deployed and stationed around the world." The message was delivered by video with Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Carlos A. Ruiz.
Legal / factual context
Context: why the birthday is November 10
The Marine Corps has not always celebrated this date. According to the Marine Corps History Division, Maj. Edwin N. McClellan, who led the Corps' historical section, proposed in an October 21, 1921 memorandum that November 10, 1775 be recognized as the proper birthday. Maj. Gen. Commandant John A. Lejeune then issued Marine Corps Order No. 47 on November 1, 1921, directing that a summary of the Corps' history be read to every command each November 10. The History Division says that order has been carried out every year since.
Historians draw an honest distinction here. The Continental Marines were raised for the Revolutionary War. The permanent United States Marine Corps was created by an act of Congress dated July 11, 1798. An article in the Winter 2025-26 issue of the journal Marine Corps History describes celebrating November 10 as a matter of heritage, while noting that the Corps became a permanent institution in 1798. Both dates have one thing in common: in each case, the people's elected representatives brought the Corps into being.
Lejeune's 1921 message, still read today, asked Marines to remember those who served as "Soldiers of the Sea" since the founding. The Commandant's 2026 message closes on the same phrase, calling today's Marines "America's Soldiers of the Sea."
Sources and reading
- 251st USMC Birthday Message, Commandant of the Marine Corps (Nov. 10, 2026)
Primary source for the Commandant's quotations, the 40,000 forward-deployed figure and the video with Sgt. Maj. Ruiz. - Resolution Establishing the Continental Marines, Journal of the Continental Congress, Nov. 10, 1775 (Marine Corps History Division)
Text of the founding resolution. - Journal of the Continental Congress, November 10, 1775 (Naval Documents of the American Revolution)
Independent transcription citing Ford, ed., JCC, III. - Marine Corps Order No. 47 (Series 1921), Lejeune's birthday message (Marine Corps History Division)
Source for Lejeune quotations. - The Marine Corps' Birthday, Marine Corps History Division brief history
McClellan memorandum of Oct. 21, 1921 and Order No. 47 history. - An Act for Establishing and Organizing a Marine Corps, July 11, 1798 (Marine Corps History Division)
Permanent Corps established by Congress. - What Marine History Is For, Marine Corps History (Winter 2025-26)
Heritage versus history distinction between 1775, 1798 and 1921. - The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription (National Archives)
Article I, Section 8 text.
Reporting above is based on the cited records. The section labeled “Our view” is editorial opinion. This article is not legal advice. Our Gadsden Flag is an independent brand, not a government or military organization.
Conservative commentary · Our view
Our View: a constitutional Corps deserves constitutional seriousness
Every November 10, Americans who never wore the eagle, globe and anchor still feel a little pride when they hear "Semper Fi." They should. The Marine Corps is one of the clearest proofs that a free people can build a fighting force of the highest quality without surrendering their liberty to it.
Notice how the Corps began. Not with a decree from a monarch or a general seizing power, but with a vote of a representative assembly, written down in its journal for anyone to read. When the Constitution was drafted a dozen years later, it kept that principle. Article I, Section 8 gives Congress, not the President, the power "To raise and support Armies" and "To provide and maintain a Navy." The 1798 act that made the Corps permanent was passed under exactly that authority. Civilian, elected, accountable control of the military is not a modern bureaucratic idea. It is the founding design.
That design cuts both ways. If Congress has the power to raise and maintain our forces, Congress has the duty to keep them ready. Readiness means stable funding passed on time, not a parade of stopgap budgets. It means ships to carry Marines where the Nation needs them, modern equipment, and honest oversight of how the money is spent. A Corps that keeps tens of thousands of Marines forward deployed should never have to wonder whether Washington will do its basic job.
It also means respecting what makes the Corps work: standards. The 1775 resolution insisted on "good seamen" who could "serve to advantage by sea." Lejeune's message talked about earning a name that stands for "military efficiency and soldierly virtue." Those are demanding words, and they should stay demanding. A strong defense is built on excellence, discipline and merit, not on lowered bars.
So today, thank a Marine. Buy the veteran down the street a cup of coffee. Read Lejeune's message with your kids. And tomorrow, on Veterans Day, remember that every one of those Marines swore an oath to the Constitution, not to a party. Happy 251st birthday, Marines. Semper Fidelis.