A Day To Honor The American Flag

Every year on June 14th, Americans celebrate Flag Day - A national observance day that allows American people to reflect and pay homage to the red, blue and white banner that symbolizes their freedom, independence and unity, as a nation.

The history of Flag Day dates back to June 14th 1777, when the Continental Congress replaced the symbols of the Grand Union flag with a design that featured 13 white stars in a circle on a field of blue and 13 red and white stripes, symbolizing the first States of the Union.

While both stripes and stars were added as more states joined in - it soon became apparent that the resulting flag would be rather large and unwieldy. Therefore, the stripes were cut back to 15 and then further down to the initial 13 - The stars however, continued to grow until all 50 states were represented.

While the first proposal to honor the birth of the flag was made in June of 1886, it was not until 1916 that President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed June 14th as a nationwide observance day and, it took another 33 years before President Truman signed it into legislation.

Today, people all over the country celebrate the day by proudly displaying the flag outside their homes or offices and many schools have planned activities like Flag Day services, quizzes and essays. Some cities, like Quincy, Massachusetts and Troy, New York, even hold Flag Day parades, where as many as 50,000 people gather to rally around this often forgotten symbol of opportunity and security!

sources: wikipedia.org, www.foxnews.com