GRAND LODGE FLAGPOLE DEDICATION
Grand Lodge Flagpole Dedication Todd Duehring,
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n Sunday afternoon, October 8, 2006, Grand Master Albert McNair Smith, assisted by the stationed officers of the Grand Lodge, Masonically consecrated the flagpole recently erected near the entrance of the Grand Lodge building on MacArthur Boulevard. This addition to our headquarters was intended, he said, “to honor the men and women of our military forces,” and to do so, he added, “in the name of Grand Secretary Emeritus, Stewart W. Miner.” Presiding over the dedicatory program was Akram Elias, Senior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge, who also delivered an inspiring keynote address. Among those present to observe the proceedings, in addition to the Grand Lodge officers noted, were a number of officers and members of the constituent, appendant and coordinate bodies of Masonry in the District of Columbia, representatives of the Palisades Community, and friends and family of the honoree.
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the first Flag Act as follows: “Resolved, that the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” I am proud to tell you that the flag was designed by Congressman Francis Hopkinson of New Jersey, signer of the Declaration of Independence and a Freemason, whose father, Thomas Hopkinson, was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Freemasonry’s contribution to the American flag doesn’t end with the founding of the nation and the design of the flag. On September 8, 1892, a Boston based magazine, The Youth’s Companion, published a few words for students to repeat on Columbus Day that year: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” The original words of the Pledge of Allegiance were written by Reverend Francis Bellamy, a Freemason.
Mindful of this rich heritage, leaders and members of the Grand Lodge of In his keynote remarks RW Elias Free And Accepted Masons of the set out the purpose and the signifDistrict of Columbia have gathered icance of the dedicatory program this Sunday afternoon to dedicate the as follows: raising of the American flag by the entrance of the Grand Lodge build“Unlike most other countries where ing. The ceremony you’re about to national identity has been shaped by witness is rich in symbolism and has blood ties, shared religious beliefs or been employed by Freemasons over common culture, in the United the centuries whenever they laid corStates, Americans are bound nerstones of public buildings, together by an idea; a powerful idea including the most majestic building that has been shaping the evolution of in our country, the Capitol, seat of the human condition for the past two William H. Stone, PM, Justice-Columbia the Congress of the United States of and a half centuries. This idea, Lodge No. 3, presented Stewart W. Miner, America. The message the cereingrained in individual liberty, is PGM and Grand Secretary Emeritus, with a mony conveys is crystal clear: It is to articulated in our most sacred secular flag that had been flown over the U.S. Capitol. remind the future occupants of the documents, the Declaration of Indebuilding that the purpose of their pendence, The Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Prominent labor ought not to be to subjugate people or rule over them, but Freemasons, from Paul Revere to George Washington to Theodore Roosevelt and Harry Truman, have labored hard rather to bring about Happiness, Peace and Prosperity to the citizens of the nation. over the centuries to preserve, defend and nurture that idea. The flag is the constant reminder to all of us of what that idea is all about. On June 14, 1777, in order to establish an official flag for the new nation, the Continental Congress passed The Voice of Freemasonry
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Today’s ceremony is dedicated to the memory of the service men and women who have given their lives in defense of our country, and in honor of Stewart Wilson Miner, Grand Secretary
