The History Of Flag Day

Flag Day

The Fourth of July was traditionally celebrated as America's birthday, but the idea of an annual day specifically celebrating the Flag is believed to have first originated in 1885. BJ Cigrand, a schoolteacher, arranged for the pupils in the Fredonia, Wisconsin Public School, District 6, to observe June 14 (the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of The Stars and Stripes) as 'Flag Birthday'. In numerous magazines and newspaper articles and public addresses over the following years, Cigrand continued to enthusiastically advocate the observance of June 14 as 'Flag Birthday', or 'Flag Day'.

On June 14, 1889, George Balch, a kindergarten teacher in New York City, planned appropriate ceremonies for the children of his school, and his idea of observing Flag Day was later adopted by the State Board of Education of New York. On June 14, 1891, the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia held a Flag Day celebration, and on June 14 of the following year, the New York Society of the Sons of the Revolution, celebrated Flag Day.

Following the suggestion of Colonel J Granville Leach (at the time historian of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution), the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames of America on April 25, 1893 adopted a resolution requesting the mayor of Philadelphia and all others in authority and all private citizens to display the Flag on June 14th. Leach went on to recommend that thereafter the day be known as 'Flag Day', and on that day, school children be assembled for appropriate exercises, with each child being given a small Flag.

Two weeks later on May 8th, the Board of Managers of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution unanimously endorsed the action of the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames. As a result of the resolution, Dr. Edward Brooks, then Superintendent of Public Schools of Philadelphia, directed that Flag Day exercises be held on June 14, 1893 in Independence Square. School children were assembled, each carrying a small Flag, and patriotic songs were sung and addresses delivered.

In 1894, the governor of New York directed that on June 14 the Flag be displayed on all public buildings. With BJ Cigrand and Leroy Van Horn as the moving spirits, the Illinois organization, known as the American Flag Day Association, was organized for the purpose of promoting the holding of Flag Day exercises. On June 14th, 1894, under the auspices of this association, the first general public school children's celebration of Flag Day in Chicago was held in Douglas, Garfield, Humboldt, Lincoln, and Washington Parks, with more than 300,000 children participating.

Adults, too, participated in patriotic programs. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, delivered a 1914 Flag Day address in which he repeated words he said the flag had spoken to him that morning: "I am what you make me; nothing more. I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself."

Inspired by these three decades of state and local celebrations, Flag Day - the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777 - was officially established by the Proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30th, 1916. While Flag Day was celebrated in various communities for years after Wilson's proclamation, it was not until August 3rd, 1949, that President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14th of each year as National Flag Day.

When and How to Display the U.S. Flag

The United States Flag Code stipulates that as the symbol of a living country, the flag is considered in itself a living thing and should be properly displayed and cared for. The code outlines the proper ways to display the American flag.

• Raise the flag briskly. Lower it ceremoniously.
• Never allow the flag to touch the ground or floor.
• Do not fly the flag in bad weather, unless it is an all-weather flag.
• The flag can only be flown at night if properly illuminated. Otherwise, it should only be flown from sunrise to sunset.
• The flag should always be allowed to fall free.
• The flag should never be used to carry, store, or deliver anything.
• Never fly the flag upside down except to signal an emergency.

Ceremonial

• When hung over a sidewalk on a rope extending from a building, the stars are always away from the building.
• When the flag is hung over a street running east to west, the stars are always toward the north. When the flag is hung over a street running north to south, the stars are always toward the east.
• When a group of flags is being displayed, the U.S. flag should be at the center and at the highest point. The only exception is when the flag of another nation is being flown—national flags should be of the same size and fly at the same height.
• When covering a casket, the stars should be at the head and over the left shoulder. The flag should never touch the ground or be lowered into the grave.

Inside

• When on a speaker's podium, the flag should be either above and behind the speaker, or to the speaker's right as he faces the audience.
• When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union (blue field) should be uppermost and to the flag's right, that is, the observer's left.
• In a window, or suspended above a corridor, the flag should hang with the union on the viewer's left.

Government

• The flag should be flown daily at the main administration building of public institutions.
• Polling places should display a flag on election days.
• School buildings should display a flag when school is in session.
• Flags should fly at half-staff on the deaths of certain government officials.
• When the flag is displayed against a wall with another flag from crossed staffs, the U.S. flag should be on the right (facing the audience) and its staff should be on top of the other flag's.

Parades

• When the flag is carried in procession with other flags, it should be either on the right of the line of flags, or in front of the center of the line.
• On floats, the flag should be displayed on a staff.
• The flag should not be draped over a car, train, or boat. When displayed with a car, the flag's staff should be attached to the right fender, or the chassis.
• The flag should be held upright and should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental, state, or organizational flags may be dipped.

Decorative

• The flag should never be used as clothing, bedding, or drapery. Red, white, and blue bunting may be used as decoration instead, with the blue on top, white in the middle, and red below.
• The flag should never be part of a uniform, but a flag patch or lapel pin can be part of a police or other uniform.
• The flag should not be used to cover a statue or monument.
• The flag should not be used to cover a ceiling.
• Advertising banners should not be hung from the same staff as a flag.
• The flag should not appear on napkins, boxes, or other disposable items, nor should it be embroidered on cushions, handkerchiefs, or similar objects.

Flag Maintenance

• The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free.
• Care should be taken not to let the flag get torn, dirty, or damaged.
• The flag should never have placed upon it, nor attached to it, any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing.

When to Fly the Flag

The flag can be displayed on all days, but in particular it should be flown on:

New Year's Day, January 1 Inauguration Day, January 20 Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday, third Monday in January Lincoln's Birthday, February 12 Washington's Birthday, third Monday in February Easter Sunday (variable) Mother's Day, second Sunday in May Armed Forces Day, third Saturday in May Memorial Day (half-staff until noon*), the last Monday in May Flag Day, June 14

Independence Day, July 4 Labor Day, first Monday in September Constitution Day, September 17 Columbus Day, second Monday in October Navy Day, October 27 Veterans Day, November 11 Thanksgiving Day, fourth Thursday in November Christmas Day, December 25 Other days as may be proclaimed by the President of the United States The birthdays of States (date of admission) State holidays

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*On Memorial Day, the flag should be hung at half-staff until noon, when it should be raised to the top of the staff.

Pledge of Allegiance

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

The pledge should be said while standing at attention and facing the flag with right hand over the heart. When not in uniform men should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag and render the military salute.

The same behavior applies during the raising or lowering of the flag, or when it passes on parade.

Flag Day - June 14th

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed the first flag act: "Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation." Education World celebrates Flag Day by visiting a few great Web sites devoted to the U.S. flag.

Did you know that a schoolteacher started the idea of an annual holiday honoring the American flag? In 1885, Wisconsin teacher Bernard J. Cigrand arranged for his students to observe June 14 -- the 108th anniversary of the congressional act establishing the first national flag -- as the "flag birthday."

Homeschooling a Return to Normalcy

by jesset
"Your child needs to be in school, he needs to know how the real world works", so says my mother-in-law, I couldn't have asked for a better platform to argue my point from.

"You think school is a reflection of the real world?", well, a very distorted view of the real world, I give her that much. Where else do you have an atmosphere where every emotion is amplified, where the raging hormones of teenagers will dictate the hierarchy of popularity and social acceptability in said school. Adults control school administration, children control the social strata in a school. What's the saying?, place a child with thirty fools and you'll soon have thirty one fools.

As a teacher you would like to be accorded the respect that your position entitles you to, as many have found out, respect cannot be demanded, rather, it has to be cajoled out of students, you have to hit the campaign trail to up your "likeability" rating so you can have a better rapport with your students. Gone are the days of unquestioning obedience and ernest study, because the students know that their falling grades reflect poorly on the teachers performance not their own - still wondering how someone can get through 12 grades and not know how to read?

Numerous school shootings that have occurred around the country is the other argument I raise, the response is, "That couldn't happen here, the odds are too great". As far as I'm concerned the "odds" are not a consideration, it happened more than once and even one time is too many. The safety of my son is paramount, so survival shouldn't be part of the curriculum.

Homeschooled children interact with children of similar age, older sibilings/cousins, adults and are exposed to a wide range of maturity and as they say the early years in a child's life are the formative ones, where they soak up everything like a sponge, why would you want to stunt their emotional growth? Studies have shown these children are more self confident, mature and better able to adjust to unfamiliar situations (sounds like real life to me). Whereas if they were only with children their own age emotional growth would stagnate and be at the whim or, more accurately, mercy of adolescent vagaries.

"Thank goodness it's the start of the school year, I needed a break from the kids", I ask them if they're glad to have their state approved babysitter back - I get alot of odd looks when I ask that question. They ask, "What babysitter", I say, "You know the one you pay school taxes for, the one that watches your kids 6 1/2 to 7 hours a day, the one that feeds them and plays with them - dodgeball remember?". "You know the place where we picked up all of our bad habits and, where soon, your kids will be picking up those same habits".

That was the argument that finally cracked the fragile shell of fantasy land; I could make all kinds of arguements for homeschooling and against public schools and be met with a brick wall of denial, but, mentioning the memories of public school and letting those unbidden images come to mind was enough to get grudging acknowledgement that I could possibly, maybe, have a point - I bet that must have hurt to say.

A well adjusted, self-confident child or a child adjusted by peer pressure and popularity, the former you'll have complete control over the latter left up to fate. I don't like leaving things up to fate - of course, I am the naive one.

About the Author

Husband and father, one time itinerate merchant and story gatherer, that has settled down to live the simple life and recount some of the experiences that have led me here. Author and Admin. at homestead articles
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