The Reason Delaware Calls Itself the First State, and the Day Delawareans Still Celebrate It

Delaware has been first since 1787, but “The First State” only became its official nickname in 2002.

The day behind it comes around every December.

Here’s the reason Delaware calls itself the First State, and how Delawareans still celebrate it.

A Vote in a Dover Tavern

Delaware’s convention ratified the Constitution before the conventions in any of the other twelve states, and that’s the First State title.

The signing happened in Dover on Friday, Dec. 7, 1787.

Thirty delegates, ten from each county, met at Battell’s Tavern on the north side of the Dover Green.

The State House wasn’t built yet, so a tavern became the meeting hall.

The delegates approved the Constitution unanimously.

A clerk wrote the approval onto a large sheet of parchment.

The delegates then signed it.

The signed parchment survives.

The Delaware Public Archives holds the Ratification Document, and you can read scans of it online, including enhanced versions that make the handwriting easier to read.

If you’re curious who signed, the page also lists all thirty delegates by county.

Petitions Before the Vote

Ratification began with four petitions.

On Oct. 24, 1787, a copy of the Constitution went to the Delaware Assembly along with four petitions urging ratification.

Together they had 171 signatures.

The vote in Dover came less than three months after the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia ended on Sept. 17.

The state’s Delaware Day site says the state saw no overt opposition to the new Constitution, and that all of its normally combative political factions favored it.

You might picture a calm tavern vote.

But according to a political pamphleteer of the time, armed men prevented a fair election in Sussex County.

From Slogan to Statute

The First State didn’t become Delaware’s official nickname until 2002.

A 1974 resolution came first.

The General Assembly’s order to the Secretary of State was plain: Use “The First State” wherever a description, nickname or slogan was needed.

The same resolution retired a rival slogan, “The State That Started a Nation,” as historically inaccurate, since the thirteen colonies founded the nation together and Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution.

Then came 2002.

On May 23, 2002, House Bill 395 wrote the nickname into the Delaware Code.

If you open the Delaware Code, the law reads, “The official nickname of the State is ‘The First State.'”

How Delaware Day Began

Delaware Day began as a petition drive in 1933.

Educator and legislator E. Paul Burkholder worked with the Rotary Club of Georgetown to gather more than 6,000 signatures on petitions.

The legislature approved a House Joint Resolution on Nov. 29, 1933.

The first Delaware Day followed on Dec. 7, 1933, under a proclamation from Gov. C. Douglass Buck.

Later governors have issued proclamations too.

In 2011, the governor read the official proclamation at a ceremony at the Delaware Public Archives.

The routine stuck.

You can see the pattern in a 1962 proclamation from Gov. Elbert N. Carvel: Schools, churches, and civic and fraternal groups were urged to take part.

That proclamation also directed that the national and state flags fly from all public buildings that day.

Delaware Day in Recent Decembers

Delaware Day has drawn a state program in several recent Decembers.

In 2020, the state's Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs posted a video profile each day at 3 p.m. from Dec. 2 through Dec. 7.

The division's Delaware Day Adventure contest followed in 2023 and 2024.

The 2023 version asked visitors to the state's museums to submit photos of their visits for a chance at Delaware-themed prizes.

The 2024 edition ran at five state museums, including the Old State House in Dover and the Zwaanendael Museum in Lewes.

Admission was free.

To enter, you picked up a passport and got it signed at each stop.

Two signatures earned one prize entry, and each extra museum added another, up to four.

The prizes included restaurant gift certificates and special museum experiences.

If you're planning a trip, check for a newer edition, since the 2024 one ran for three weeks in December.

In 2026, Dec. 7 falls on a Monday.

Delaware Day isn't one of the legal holidays the Delaware Code lists.

Governors proclaim it.

Date on the Flag

The ratification date that earned the First State title also appears on the state flag.

You can check it yourself.