by Valerie Johnson

Created on: June 12, 2008   Last Updated: February 19, 2012

The Second Continental Congress passed a resolution on June 14, 1777, adopting the flag of the United States. This resolution read: "Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field representing a new constellation." June 14 would eventually become a day to celebrate and honor this flag.

The design of the first American Flag had 5 rows of stars with 3 and 2 stars alternating in each row. Contrary to popular belief, it did not have 13 stars in a circle on the blue field. There is much debate and no evidence to support the claim that the first American Flag was made by Betsy Ross. There is evidence, however, pointing to a congressman by the name of Frances Hopkinson as the maker of the first flag that was adopted by the Second Continental Congress.

That first official Flag would fly until May of 1795 when 2 more stars were added to the blue field. Over the past 231 years our flag design has changed 27 times as new territories became states. The last change in our flag occurred on July 4, 1960.

The first Flag Day celebration is said to have been held in 1861. As with many aspects of history, some debate this fact. A man by the name of George Morris of Hartford, Connecticut, is credited for the promotion of a day to honor and celebrate the birth of our flag. Unfortunately, the tradition did not continue the next year.

The movement for a day of celebrating the flag truly began in 1885 when a grade school teacher from Waubeka, Wisconsin, Bernard J. Cigrand, conducted the first formal Flag Day observance as Stony Hill School. Cigrand made it his mission to see that June 14 be recognized and celebrated as Flag Day as he traveled the country giving speeches and writing articles promoting patriotism, respect for the flag and pushing for an annual Flag Day celebration. The Chicago Tribune calls Cigrand the "Father of Flag Day."

Others would follow after Cigrand in an attempt to have June 14 nationally recognized as Flag Day. William T. Kerr, of Collier Township, Pennsylvania, founded the American Flag Day Association of Western Pennsylvania in 1888. In 1893, Elizabeth Duane Gillespie, a descendant of Benjamin Franklin, attempted to have a resolution passed deeming June 14 as Flag Day.

Despite the efforts of Mr. Cigrand and others that followed after him, the day would not be recognized nationally until 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially set June 14 as Flag Day. This proclamation did not, however enact into law a National Flag Day. In August, 1949, President Harry S. Truman signed an Act of Congress which set June 14 as Flag Day. Interestingly though Flag Day is not a federal holiday.

According to a resolution passed by congress in 1966, the President of the United States is to issue a proclamation each year designating the week of June 14 as National Flag Week and encourage all US citizens to display the flag during that week.

For the past 231 years, the American flag has served as a symbol of freedom and a reminder of those who have given their lives for that freedom. It is a symbol of hope for a better future, strength in times of attack and unity in times of turmoil. It provided the inspiration for the writing of what would become our National Anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner", as Frances Scott Key observed our Flag flying high and proud amidst an endless barrage of explosions. Flag day truly is a day to proudly display the American Flag and salute its heritage and its future.

References:

• www.wikipedia.org

• www.united-states-flag.com

• www.america.gov

• www.usflag.org

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