Flag Day (June 14^th) is often overlooked by the same people who fill their Fourth of July celebrations with fireworks, parades, and enough hot dogs to give even Joey Chestnut pause. The Army celebrates its birthday on the same day, which also bumps Flag Day to the sidelines, especially when the caissons have been rolling along for 250 years now.

So when exactly did Flag Day get its start? On June 14^th, 1777, the Government of the new United States selected the basic stars and stripes design still used today. The first formal celebration of this event was organized in 1861 in Hartford, Connecticut, by George Morris. This was just two months after the attack on Fort Sumter by Confederate ships; the first military action of the Civil War.

In 1885, Bernard Cigrand, a schoolteacher in Wisconsin, encouraged his students to celebrate June 14^th as “Flag Birthday”. In 1886, he wrote an essay published in the Chicago Argus newspaper that urged the nation to celebrate it. Two years later, William Kerr established the American Flag Day Association of Western Pennsylvania, encouraging the state government to recognize June 14^th as a day of celebration. It was eventually adopted as one and remains a state holiday to this day.

On the Federal level, Flag Day was so proclaimed in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson. In 1949, the United States Congress formally established June 14th as National Flag Day. Since then, the President has signed a Proclamation each year declaring the week of the 14^th as National Flag Week. Everyone is encouraged to fly our flag, learn its history, and understand the meaning of its elements and components.

So fly Old Glory high this week, and take pride in what it and our nation stands for every week.

Explore More with My Military Lifestyle and Holidays!