Happy Flag Day!

Happy Flag Day! This is a holiday that has always confused me. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that it is a day to honor and celebrate our country’s flag, but why would we celebrate the flag on a separate day from our Independence Day? As we do with most of life’s questions, I went to the Internet for answers.

The story goes that on June 14, 1885, 108 years after the adoption of the stars and stripes, a public schoolteacher in Wisconsin had his pupils celebrate Flag Birthday. This went on for a few years and the schoolteacher advocated the idea to the press. This caught on and more and more teachers and organizations made a push to celebrate Flag Day on June 14. This led to the New York Governor recognizing the day in 1894 by mandating that a flag be displayed on all public buildings. That same year the American Flag Day Association was organized to promote Flag Day and organize activities.

After recognizing these state and local activities, President Woodrow Wilson officially established Flag Day in a Proclamation on May 30, 1916. Then on August 3, 1949, President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14th of each year as National Flag Day. So although we do not get the day off for Flag Day, it is an important day to remember what our Flag represents to our country, and to us.