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Today is Flag Day, June 14th, a national holiday. It's surprising how many citizens of our country don't know why or how we came about to celebrate Flag Day in the United States. If you should ask the average person, they will probably say something like, "It's to celebrate the flag." Well, yes it is. However, the history and origin of Flag Day is an interesting story.

The first American flag was made in 1776 by Betsy Ross. It had 13 stars representing the 13 states our country had at that time. In 1777, on June 14, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution:That the flag of the United States shall be of thirteen stripes of alternate red and white,with a union of thirteen stars of white in a blue field, representing the new constellation. Thus, the flag made by Betsy Ross became the offical flag of the United States of America.

It was more than century before June 14th was actually celebrated as a holiday. The flag was used during battle victories and in 1814 composer Francis Scott Key wrote a poem which later became the national athem of the United States, "The Star Spangled Banner." The flag of our country was revered but there was no official holiday to pause and celebrate its glory.

The first time it is known that the "Stars and Stripes" was given a holiday of its own was in the summer of 1861, in Hartford, Conneticut. By the late 1880's schools across the country were celebrating Flag Day with special observations as a way of helping immigrant children become Americanized. The practice spread to other parts of the country's communities. In 1889, a professor who headed a free kindergarten for the poor children of New York City, had his school celebrate the anniversary of the resolution passed on June 14, 1777. Professor George Bolche's idea caught the attention of the New York State Department of Education and they declared that the day be celebrated in all public schools in the state in the future. By 1897, the Governor of New York had declared that the flag was to be displayed over all public buildings in recognition of the 1777 resolution that recognized the "Stars and Stripes" as our country's official flag.

Although today Flag Day is observed nationwide, Pennsylvania is the only state in the United States to have declared June 14 an official legal state holiday, Flag Day. This was adopted in 1937. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson and again in 1927, President Calvin Coolidge, issued proclamtions requesting that June 14 be observed as our National Flag Day, but it was President Harry Truman who finally signed it into law on August 3, 1949.

Both President Wilson, in 1916, and President Coolidge, in 1927, issued proclamations asking for June 14 to be observed as the National Flag Day. But it wasn't until August 3, 1949, that Congress approved the national observance, and President Harry Truman signed it into law. The resolution passed requires that the President of the United States annually proclaim June 14 as National Flag Day. Another resolution was passed in 1966 by Congress to include the entire week during which June 14th falls to be proclaimed National Flag Week and calls upon citizens of the United States to display the flag during that week.

Flag Day is designated as a day for all citizens of the United States of America to celebrate and show respect for our flag. Today the flag has 13 horizontal stripes alternating red and white to represent the first 13 states of our country and a blue square on the top left hand corner with 50 stars to represent our 50 states.

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