FLAG DAY IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED

Flag Day is regularly overshadowed by the louder, more widely known Independence Day holiday. There may not be fireworks every day of the year like July 4th, but every day is Flag Day, not just on the officially-observed date of June 14th. Flags fly every day in northwest Iowa and across the country outside of banks, post offices and other government buildings; plus inside and outside of schools, businesses, homes and inside churches. The fabric of the red, white and blue is woven through the lives of Americans as a touchstone of citizens’ patriotism and love of country.

The Stars and Stripes was first recognized as the nation’s symbol of patriotism and loyalty by the U.S. Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. The Congressional resolution adopted a flag of 13 red and white stripes bordered by white stars on a field of blue. A flag of this design was first carried into battle on September 11, 1777, in the Battle of the Brandywine.

The June 14th date held little public significance until after the American Civil War. In the ensuing years, communities such as Hartford, Conn., New York City, and Philadelphia laid claim to holding the first observance of Flag Day. William T. Kerr is credited with founding the American Flag Day Association in 1888 while still a schoolboy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 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. The only historic observance more overlooked in the patriotic parade of dates is Constitution Day, but that discussion will be saved for another day.

Most Americans have a pretty good grasp on the basic history and significance of the U.S. flag, but what do you know about your home state’s flag?

According to www.statesymbolusa.org, Iowa was almost 75 years old before the state banner was adopted by the Legislature in 1921. Iowa was only 12 years old when the Civil War broke out. After the war’s conclusion, patriotic Iowans did not adopt a state banner because they felt a national banner was the only one needed. At the turn of the century, sentiment began to shift towards having a state flag. Iowa’s flag was designed by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Iowa National Guardsmen stationed at the Mexican border during World War I requested an emblem of Iowa to represent their unit.

The flag consists of three vertical stripes: the blue stripe stands for loyalty, justice and truth; the white stripe for purity; and the red stripe for courage. On the white center, an eagle carries streamers in its beak which are inscribed with the state's motto: "Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain." The name "IOWA" is in red below the streamers. The eagle carrying streamers also appears on Iowa's state seal.

Sources

• www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate/flagday.pdf

• https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/iowa/ state-flag/flag-iowa