In the United States the last Thursday in November is always observed as Thanksgiving Day. Ostensibly, it commemorates a 1621 event celebrating a good harvest shared by the new colonists arrived from Plymouth, England( now called “Pilgrims”) who came to these shores seeking religious and economic freedom and the Native American Wampanoags who lived here already. The observance as it exists now in the US and its Territories dates as far back as 1863 but having it fixed on the fourth Thursday in November occurred in 1941 under President Franklin Roosevelt. From 1939 to 1941 it had been fixed on the next to last Thursday in November for business reasons but a joint resolution in Congress changed it to the fourth Thursday in November where it has remained since.

Some armorial devices that are somewhat related to Thanksgiving include: