By Ace Tounsel
“The flag of the United States shall be of thirteen stripes of alternate red and white, with a union of thirteen stars of white in a blue field, representing the new constellation.”
This was the resolution adopted by the Continental Congress on June 14th, 1777. The resolution was made following the report of a special committee which had been assigned to suggest the flag’s design.
It took some time for the country to observe the adoption of the flag, however. Although
there are many claims to the first official observance of Flag Day, all but one took place
more than an entire century after the flag’s adoption in 1777. The most recognized claim comes from New York. On June 14th, 1889, Professor George Bolch, had his school hold patriotic ceremonies to observe the anniversary of the Flag Day resolution. This initiative attracted attention from the State Department of Education, which arranged to have the day observed in all public schools thereafter.
Soon the state legislature passed a law making it the responsibility of the state superintendent of public schools to ensure that schools hold observances for Lincoln’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, and Flag Day. In 1897, the governor of New York ordered the displaying of the flag over all public buildings in the state, an observance considered by some to be the first official recognition of the anniversary of the adoption of the flag outside of schools.
Flag Day is a nationwide observance today. Bernard J. Cigrand, a school teacher in Waubeka, Wisconsin, reportedly spent years trying to get Congress to declare June 14 as a national holiday. Although his attempts failed, the day was widely observed. Both President Wilson, in 1916, and President Coolidge, in 1927, issued proclamations asking for June 14 to be observed as the National Flag Day. But it wasn’t until August 3, 1949, that Congress approved the national observance, and President Harry Truman signed it into law.
So, this month neighbors, let your flag fly high. Or feel free to offer our flag a salute as you drive by American Legion Post 109.
