The history of Mother's Day is centuries old, the ancient Greeks held festivities to honor Rhea, "the mother of the gods". The early Christians celebrated the Mother's day on the fourth Sunday of Lent to honor Mary, the mother of Christ. In 1872 Julia Ward Howe organized a day for mothers dedicated to peace.

In 1907, a Philadelphia schoolteacher named Anna M. Jarvis, began a movement to set up a national Mother's Day in honor of her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. The first Mother's Day observance was a church service honoring Anna's mother. Anna handed out her mother's favorite flowers, the white incarnations, on the occasion as they represent sweetness, purity, and patience. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honor of mothers.

Slowly and gradually the Mother's day became very popular. Mother's Day has flourished in the United States. The second Sunday of May has become one of the most popular days of the year.