By SALINA POST
Happy Flag Day!
Since 1916, the United States has offically been celebrating Flag Day, though some people around the country celebrated the flag for years before. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson on May 30, 1916, signed a presidental proclamation establishing a national Flag Day on June 14.
"The day commemorates the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States," the Library of Congress noted on its website.
Later, on Aug. 3, 1949, Congress, in a joint resolution, officially designated that June 14 be recognized as Flag Day each year. Congress also requested that the sitting president issue an annual proclamation calling for the observance of Flag Day. The most recent proclamation can be seen below.
What is the significance of June 14? On June 14, 1777, John Adams proposed the following resolution to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia:
Resolved, that the flag of the thirteen United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation.
The national flag of the new country was adopted that day.
According to information from the Library of Congress, there have been 27 official versions of the United States' flag. As states joined the union, additional stars were added to the flag. The most recent version of the flag came about after Hawaii became the 50th state on Aug. 21, 1959.
Presidential proclamation
Following is the 2021 presidential proclamation concerning Flag Day. It was issued on Friday.
A Proclamation on Flag Day And National Flag Week, 2021
In the midst of a revolution, less than a year after declaring our independence, the Congress consecrated what would become an enduring emblem of American unity by adopting a national flag on June 14, 1777.
In the 244 years since, the United States has grown and changed across the generations — and our flag has changed in turn. The blue field of stars has been enlarged as our Union has gained in size and strength. The 13 stripes, symbolizing the 13 original States, have held as constant as the bedrock values upon which our Nation was first conceived — the very same values we still cherish, and still reach for, today.
Since adoption of the Stars and Stripes, Americans — and people around the world — have continuously looked to our flag as a symbol of unity and liberty. Our flag has sailed around the globe, and journeyed to the Moon and, now, to Mars. It has flown on fields of battle, and marks the resting places of those who have given what President Lincoln called “the last full measure of devotion” for our country. Its prominence at civic landmarks and seats of public authority communicates the promise of democracy — that under this flag, the rule of law is supreme and the people reign. As we continue the sacred work of building a more perfect Union together, let our flag serve as a reminder to us, and to the world, that America stands for and strives for the promise of freedom, justice, and equality for all.
To commemorate the adoption of our flag, the Congress, by joint resolution approved August 3, 1949, as amended (63 Stat. 492), designated June 14 of each year as “Flag Day” and requested that the President issue an annual proclamation calling for its observance and for the display of the flag of the United States on all Federal Government buildings. The Congress also requested, by joint resolution approved June 9, 1966, as amended (80 Stat. 194), that the President issue annually a proclamation designating the week in which June 14 occurs as “National Flag Week” and calling upon all citizens of the United States to display the flag during that week.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 14, 2021, as Flag Day, and the week starting June 13, 2021, as National Flag Week. I direct the appropriate officials to display the flag on all Federal Government buildings during this week, and I urge all Americans to observe Flag Day and National Flag Week by displaying the flag. I encourage the people of the United States to observe with pride and all due ceremony those days from Flag Day through Independence Day, set aside by the Congress (89 Stat. 211), as a time to honor the American spirit, to celebrate our history and the foundational values we strive to uphold, and to publicly recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.