On Jun. 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed an act establishing an official flag for the new nation. The resolution stated: “Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” It is the anniversary of that day 247 years ago. We celebrate every Jun. 14.

Some people believe that seamstress Betsy Ross designed the Stars and Stripes. Most historians say New Jersey Congressman Francis Hopkinson was the designer. A third group is arguing whether or not Die Hard was a Flag Day movie.

The holiday of Flag Day had a very rough start. In 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, George Morris persuaded Hartford, Conn., to undertake a patriotic celebration on behalf of the Union. However, the concept was as popular as the first Hartford Civic Center roof, which collapsed and landed on the Civic Center floor. The Morris idea wasn’t popular with the other (Union) states either,

Decades later, in 1885, a 19-year-old Waubeka schoolteacher named Bernard Cigrand plunked a small flag into an inkwell on his desk. He assigned his students to write essays on patriotism. Later, he traveled the country to promote respect for the flag, becoming president of the American Flag Day Association.

Known as the “Father of Flag Day,” William Kerr wrote hundreds of letters and lobbied politicians and presidents to establish Flag Day as a national holiday. He was standing beside President Harry Truman in 1949 when Truman signed the Act of Congress that officially designated Jun. 14 as a holiday.

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1888, William Kerr, son of a Civil War veteran, founded the American Flag Day Association of Western Pennsylvania, pressing presidents and legislators to make Flag Day official. In his hometown of Rennersdale, near Pittsburgh, a historical marker honors Kerr as the “Father of Flag Day.”

In 1889, New York City principal George Bolch had his school hold patriotic ceremonies to observe the day. State officials later expanded the program. In 1893, Elizabeth Duane Gillespie, head of the Colonial Dames of Pennsylvania, worked to have public buildings in Philadelphia display flags. This effort led one federal office to credit Philadelphia as Flag Day’s original home.

American Flag 1861

Still, Flag Day struggled for official recognition. It wasn’t until 1916 that President Woodrow Wilson issued a wishy-washy proclamation to “suggest and request. . . If possible” that people observe Flag Day.

In 1949, President Harry S. Truman signed an act passed by Congress naming Flag Day as Jun. 14.

Today, saluting the flag or even being patriotic seems corny or jingoistic to some. Some even say it’s racist, but now, at times, It’s a tool of violence.

Flag Burning In Manhattan

Sadly, after Biden supported Israel for the first 5-6 weeks after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, the Americans who supported the terrorists or were just anti-Semitic began to protest. Those protests became violent, and that violence featured trashing Old Glory.   Those protests would be much different if civics were still taught in American schools.

“The flag is a visible symbol of the ideal aspirations of the American people. It is the one focus in which all unite in reverential devotion. We differ in religion; we differ in politics; we engage in disputes as to the true meaning of the Constitution, and even challenge the wisdom of some of its provisions; we inject self-interest and cupidity into most of the ordinary transactions of daily life, but through the sanctifying folds of the flag, the collective intelligence of the nation rises superior to the wisdom of its parts, and thus ensures the preservation of the Republic.”  U.S. General Arthur MacArthur 1903

American Girls
And American Guys
We’ll always stand up and salute
We’ll always recognize
When we see Ol’ Glory flyin’

Toby Keith

But remember, It unified the country after the Boston Marathon bombing, for one day, everyone, even New Yorkers, cheered the Red Sox:

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Speaking as a New Yorker, we did go back to hating the Red Sox the next day…but that’s baseball.

Old Glory even helps America to celebrate some of her most significant achievements.

Do you believe in miracles?

“The flag is a visible symbol of the ideal aspirations of the American people. It is the one focus in which all unite in reverential devotion. We differ in religion; we differ in politics; we engage in disputes as to the true meaning of the Constitution, and even challenge the wisdom of some of its provisions; we inject self-interest and cupidity into most of the ordinary transactions of daily life, but through the sanctifying folds of the flag, the collective intelligence of the nation rises superior to the wisdom of its parts, and thus ensures the preservation of the Republic.”  U.S. General Arthur MacArthur 1903

“Teach Your Children Well”

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.grand old flag, grand old flag, grand old flag

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