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National Flag Day
 Today, millions of Americans observe Flag Day by waving Old Gloryoutside their homes and businesses. Veteran's groups and sometimes whole communities also arrange civic functions and special ceremonies in honor of Flag Day.As the legend goes, it was George Washington and two other members of the Continental Congress who asked Betsy Ross to sew the first American flag sometime in the late spring of 1776. The young widow was only in her early 20's when she completed the first flag with thirteen stars arranged in a circle. A year later, the Continental Congress officially adopted the design for the national flag, and henceforward the Stars and Stripes symbolized the U.S. around the world. The first "official" Flag Day was celebrated in 1877 - the flag's centennial. In 1916, a grass roots movement resulted in President Woodrow Wilson issuing a proclamation that called for a nationwide observance of Flag Day on June 14. Although still not an official holiday, Flag Day was made a permanent observance in America in 1949 by Congress who resolved "That the 14th day of June of each year is hereby designated as Flag Day." Flag Day fun facts Why red, white and blue? To the original members of the Continental Congress, red stood for hardiness and courage, white for purity and innocence, and blue for vigilance and justice. Why thirteen stars and stripes? They represented the thirteen American colonies which rallied around the new flag in their fight against the British for self-governance. The thirteen colonies included Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia. To this day, thirteen stripes still commemorate the orginal colonies. Instead of thirteen stars, today the number of stars on the US flag has grown to 50, representing every state in the Union. The Star Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key, 1814 Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream: 'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion, A home and a country should leave us no more! Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave: And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the war's desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! Posted by: Sherry 2010-06-14 |
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