FREEDOM’S SYMBOL

compiled by Amy Barnes

Information was gathered from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and the Library of Congress

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the U.S.’s official flag.

Currently, there are 50 stars on the flag, one for each state in the union. There are 13 stripes in alternating red and white, which represent the original 13 colonies.

While it is widely believed that Betsy Ross made the first U.S. flag, the design of the flag is credited to Francis Hopkinson who also designed the first U.S. coin and the Great Seal. It was not until 1912 that the arrangement of the stars on the flag was standardized by President William Howard Taft.

The 50th and last state to join the U.S. and have a star added to the flag was Hawaii. It joined the Union on August 21, 1959, and its star was officially added to the flag on July 4, 1960.

According to the U.S. Government publishing office, Francis Scott Key wrote a poem in 1814 about the flag flying over a battlefield. The poem was later set to the British song, “To Anacreon in Heaven.” In 1916, it was made the national anthem by President Woodrow Wilson. President Herbert Hoover made it the official national anthem in 1931.

Schools across the country held Flag Day programs in the late 1800s to Americanize immigrant children. But it was the observation on June 14, 1889 by George Bolch, a principal at a free New York City kindergarten that caught the eye of the State Department of Education, who arranged for the day to be observed in the rest of the state’s public schools, leading to the eventual law in New York to ensure schools included Flag Day in ceremonies.

A few years later, in 1893, the Society of Colonial

Dames got a resolution passed in Philadelphia for all public buildings to display the flag. A direct descendant of Benjamin Franklin and Colonial Dames president, Elizabeth Duane Gillespie, tried to get the Philadelphia to declare June 14 Flag Day a legal holiday, but she was ignored until it was finally passed until May 7, 1937.

While Flag Day is observed across America, the only state to recognize it as a legal holiday is Pennsylvania.

A Waubeka, Wisconsin, school teacher Bernard J. Cigrand tried vainly for years to get Congress to declare June 14 a national holiday.

Despite proclamations by both Presidents

Woodrow Wilson and Calvin Coolidge, in 1916 and 1927 respectively, it was not until August 3, 1949 that Congress approved and President Harry Truman signed the national observance to honor the flag.

The Flag Day legislation also sets forth that the president is to issue a Flag Day proclamation each year.

For directions on how to properly fold a flag, go to https://tinyurl.com/m39h2yaj

For more information about the history of the U.S. flag, go to the Smithsonian’s flag site: https://amhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/

(from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, D.C.)

The flag should never be draped or drawn back in folds. Draped red, white and blue bunting should be used for decoration, with the blue at the top and red at the bottom. The flag may be flown at half-staff to honor a newly deceased federal or state government official by order of the president or the governor, respectively. On Memorial Day, the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon.

Out of respect for the U.S. flag, never:

• Dip it for any person or thing, even though state flags, regimental colors and other flags may be dipped as a mark of honor.

• Display it with the union (the part with the stars) down, except as a signal of distress.

• Let the flag touch anything beneath it: ground, floor, water, merchandise.

• Carry it horizontally, but always aloft. Fasten or display it in a way that will permit it to be damaged or soiled.

• Place anything on the flag, including letters, insignia, or designs of any kind.

• Use it for holding anything

• Use it as wearing apparel, bedding or drapery. It should not be used on a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be attached to the uniform of patriotic organizations, military personnel, police officers and firefighters.

• Use the flag for advertising or promotion purposes or print it on paper napkins, boxes or anything else intended for temporary use and discard.

During the hoisting or lowering of the flag or when it passes in parade or review, Americans should stand at attention facing the flag and place their right hand over the heart. Uniformed military members render the military salute. Men not in uniform should remove any headdress and hold it with their right hand at their left shoulder, the hand resting over the heart. Those who are not U.S. citizens should stand at attention.

When the flag is worn out or otherwise no longer a fitting emblem for display, it should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.

For more information on handling the U.S. flag, as well as diagrams on how to display and march with the flag, go to https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate/flagdisplay.pdf