The difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day is confusing for many people, and it shouldn't be.

Here's a handy guide to help you distinguish Veterans Day, Tuesday's holiday, always celebrated on Nov. 11, from Memorial Day, which falls on the last Monday in May.

And by handy guide, we mean:

Marine veteran and ex-San Diego mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher explained it like so.

Veterans Day, once known as Armistice Day, was created as a federal holiday to commemorate the end of fighting in World War I on Nov. 11, 1918, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Twenty years later, Congress designated Nov. 11 as "Armistice Day" to honor World War I veterans and to celebrate the cause of world peace. In 1954, after World War II and the Korean War, Congress changed the name of the holiday to Veterans Day to recognize American veterans of all wars.

Memorial Day has an even older and more complicated story, with more than two dozen cities laying claim to its origins. Per another page on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website, Congress declared Waterloo, N.Y., as the holiday's birthplace in 1966. There, a ceremony on May 5, 1866, honored local veterans who had served in the Civil War, businesses closed and flags flew at half-staff. Two years later on that date, the head of a Union veterans organization called the Grand Army of the Republic established Decoration Day to lay flowers on the graves of those who died in the war. It was later declared that day should be May 30, a date that is believed to have been chosen because flowers would be in bloom nationwide.

In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday and placed it on the last Monday in May, though some people still call it Decoration Day.

So why the confusion? Here is one more explainer from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Many people confuse Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Memorial Day is a day for remembering and honoring military personnel who died in the service of their country, particularly those who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle. While those who died are also remembered, Veterans Day is the day set aside to thank and honor ALL those who served honorably in the military - in wartime or peacetime. In fact, Veterans Day is largely intended to thank LIVING veterans for their service, to acknowledge that their contributions to our national security are appreciated, and to underscore the fact that all those who served - not only those who died - have sacrificed and done their duty.

In closing, please note the correct spelling of Veterans Day, not Veteran's Day or Veterans' Day.

We'll give the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs the last word: "Veterans Day does not include an apostrophe but does include an 's' at the end of 'veterans' it is not a day that 'belongs' to veterans, it is a day for honoring all veterans."

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zyanya.figueroa@sandiegored.com