Every Nov. 10, Marines worldwide gather to cut birthday cakes with Mameluke swords, listen to the reading of a nearly century-old order, and watch the oldest Marine hand a piece of cake to the youngest.
Surprisingly, these traditions that Marines hold sacred are barely 100 years old. They were created during one of the darkest periods in Corps history when its very existence was in danger.
Lejeune Faces Budget Cuts and Existential Threats
When Major General John A. Lejeune became Commandant in 1920, he inherited a Marine Corps that had proven itself and earned national fame for its actions at Belleau Wood but it faced serious questions about its future. Post-World War I America wanted disarmament and drawdowns. The Washington Naval Treaty discussions led to massive budget cuts and military downsizing that created legitimate concern among Marine Corps senior leaders.
Congress occasionally debated whether the nation needed a separate amphibious force at all. The Army could handle land operations, while the Navy had its own security forces. Many voiced their belief that the Marines were nothing but a waste of money, something the other branches could handle instead.
Lejeune watched the political tide turning against his service. The Corps needed more than combat effectiveness to survive going forward. It needed an identity that was impenetrable to budget cycles and congressional scrutiny.
Marine Corps Clerks Make History
Major Edwin McClellan ran the Corps' historical section in 1921 with just three enlisted clerks. They noted that Marines had been celebrating their founding on July 11 since 1798, when Congress formally reestablished the service after disbanding the Revolutionary War-era Continental Marines.
However, these celebrations were nothing but an acknowledgement of the anniversary. Historical records show minimal fanfare, with one 1918 newspaper clipping noting the Corps' 120th birthday passed “as usual with no fuss.” Drastically different from the celebrations of today.
On Oct. 21, 1921, McClellan sent a memo to Lejeune suggesting the Marines shift their official birthday to Nov. 10, 1775, the date the Second Continental Congress authorized raising two battalions of Continental Marines. The recommendation came with a proposal for an annual celebration that would remind both Marines and the American public of the Corps' long history and its service to the nation.
Lejeune issued Marine Corps Order No. 47 on Nov. 1, 1921. The order directed that a birthday message be read to every command on Nov. 10 of that year and every year thereafter.
“On November 10, 1775, a Corps of Marines was created by a resolution of Continental Congress,” the order read. “Since that date, many thousand men have borne the name 'Marine.'”
His order established a continuity to the original Continental Marines that all modern-day Marines can be proud of.
Building USMC Traditions From Scratch
The first formal Birthday Ball took place in Philadelphia in 1925. Guests included the Secretaries of War and Navy, Lejeune himself, and prominent political and military figures. The main event was an unveiling of a memorial tablet at the site of Tun Tavern, the Philadelphia waterfront tavern where Captain Samuel Nicholas recruited the first Marines in 1775.
The celebration featured a parade with Marines, Army and Navy units, National Guard detachments and other military organizations marching through Philadelphia. An evening banquet at the Benjamin Franklin Hotel preceded a ball at the Bellevue-Stratford.
The birthday cake tradition developed over the years. Evidence points to a cake-cutting ceremony at Quantico, Virginia, in 1935. The first well-documented ceremony occurred at Marine Barracks Washington in 1937, when Commandant Thomas Holcomb presided over an officer open house that featured the cutting of a massive cake shaped like Tun Tavern.
The cake-cutting ceremony wasn't formalized across the entire Corps until Oct. 28, 1952, when Commandant Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr. issued standardized protocols. Those protocols became part of the Marine Corps Drill Manual in 1956.
The modern ceremony follows specific traditions handed down over decades. Marines cut the birthday cake with a Mameluke sword. The first piece goes to the guest of honor. The second piece goes to the oldest Marine present, who hands it to the youngest Marine. The Mameluke sword itself traces to Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon's assault on Derna, Tripoli, in 1805, when he was reportedly given the blade from the city's governor.
Strategic Survival Through Tradition
Lejeune issued Order No. 47 during a period when the Corps fought for institutional survival against congressional scrutiny and budget threats. By formalizing the birthday celebration, he created an annual ritual that reaffirmed the Corps' distinct identity when its future remained uncertain.
Annual birthday celebrations created public visibility for the Marine Corps beyond its wartime actions. Each ceremony reminded Americans and their elected representatives that the Marines represented something more than just being another military branch. Lejeune applied principles of public relations to ensure the Marine Corps survived the post-World War I budget cuts, establishing Marine Corps alumni groups and creating lasting traditions that kept former Marines engaged in supporting the Corps.
Even Marines deployed to remote locations began improvising birthday celebrations, sometimes with ration cakes or handwritten versions of Lejeune's message. In the absence of cake, some Marines in the middle of combat began using desserts from MRE packages.
Even the Marines' Hymn, sung at every birthday celebration, became popularized during this time. The melody came from Jacques Offenbach's 1867 comic opera “Genevieve de Brabant,” though no one knows who wrote the current lyrics. Commandant Lejeune authorized it as the official Marine Corps Hymn in 1929, giving Marines another identifiable feature.
Modern birthday celebrations have added new traditions alongside the cake ceremony. Unit motivational runs on Nov. 10 have become standard practice across Marine commands. Most celebrations include a display of Marine uniforms, past and present. Each year, Marines also gather at Samuel Nicholas's grave in Philadelphia's Arch Street Friends Meeting graveyard at dawn to place a wreath honoring the Corps' first officer.
USMC Birthday Celebrations Today
Marines celebrate their 250th birthday in 2025. The traditions Lejeune created in 1921 remain central to Corps identity. Lejeune faced congressional and public pressure that threatened to disband or merge the Marine Corps into other services.
He understood that institutions survive when they become part of a nation's identity, not just its military structure. The birthday celebration gave the Corps something critics couldn't easily dismantle without public backlash.
Today, Marine celebrations are widespread and recognized, not just by the Marines, but also by the same alumni groups founded by Lejeune, countless veterans, as well as the American public.
The Marine Corps exists today not just because of its phenomenal battlefield performance but because Lejeune built traditions that made the service feel permanent and irreplaceable.
