June 14th, 1999 is Flag Day (see below).
June 14th, 1999 is Flag Day (see below).
-- In 1999, June 14th marks the 222nd birthday of the U.S. Flag.
In 1777, the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes
pattern for the national flag. This would follow almost one year after
the Declaration of Independence and more than a decade before the
U.S. Constitution was finalized. Flag Day was first celebrated in
1877, the centennial of the U.S. flag's existence. After that many citizens
and organizations advocated the adoption of a national day of commemoration
for the U.S. Flag. It was not until 1949, that President Harry Truman signed
legislation making Flag Day a day of national observance.
The U.S. Flag has thirteen stripes, alternating red and white, each stripe representing one of the 13 original colonies of England.
The United States Flag has 50 stars, one for each state of the Union. The last star added was for the State of Hawaii, 1960.
Very few Americans get the day off from work on June 14th, Flag Day. In the United States, changes in the standards of the average citizen and permissive legislatures have reduced patriotic holidays to just an extra day off; no more than part of a long weekend. In the State of Pennsylvania, Flag Day is a state holiday.
For guidance to the traditions and laws of flag display, contact your local veterans organizations and service organizations such as American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars and Elks Clubs
U.S. Flags should not be simply thrown into the trash. By long standing tradition, there is a simple and dignified procedure to dispose of U.S. Flags. The Elks, American Legion, VFW, and other veterans organizations provide instructions on the disposal of old, worn, and damaged U.S. Flags along with guidance on flag display.
The Citizens Flag Alliance seeks to restore legal power of the 50 U.S. States to protect the "flag from purposeful acts of mutilation, defacement, trampling, or burning" Citizens Flag Alliance, Inc. Also see Flags of Freedom Foundation, Inc.
The U.S. National Anthem is titled 'Star-Spangled Banner'. The words were penned by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812 and set to the tune of an old English drinking song.
Famed composer and long time U.S. Marine Corps Bandmaster John Philip Sousa wrote the stirring march, "Stars and Stripes Forever".
In 1997, the billionaire founder of CNN and now Time-Warner executive Ted Turner proposed a national vote to replace the 'Star-Spangled Banner' as the national anthem. Turner said he wanted to replace it "with a less warlike anthem." See story. Turner is married to Jane Fonda, a movie actress who visited Hanoi, Vietnam while American prisoners were being tortured and beaten in communist jails there. Miss Fonda supported the Vietnamese communists.
Comments or questions? E-Mail Viking Phoenix at the Sun Tzu Organization:
suntzu75@ccnet.com
[Top of Page]
