What Is Flag Day in the USA?

National Flag Day, June 14, commemorates the day in 1777 when the Second Continental Congress adopted the national flag of the United States of America.  

How did Flag Day begin? 

• 1885.  Perhaps the idea came from several sources.  In 1885, a young Wisconsin schoolteacher, Bernard J. Cigard (1866-1932), who later became a practicing dentist and dean of a dental school, conducted a "birthday for the flag" as a teaching tool.  
  • Cigrand is referred to as the "Father of Flag Day" for two main reasons:  
    • his formal observance on June 14, 1885, and
    • his tireless promotion of June 14 as a day devoted to an annual observance of the national flag.  
  • Dr. Cigrand's vision of an official National Flag Day, established by the U.S. government and celebrated throughout the country each year, was not realized until after his death. 
• 1916.  In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 as the official date.
• 1949.  In 1949, President Harry S. Truman signed a Congressional Act into law which permanently established June 14 as "National Flag Day," but did not make it a federal holiday.

If Americans can fly their flag every day of the year, why is a Flag Day necessary?
Americans can fly the flag every day of the year, but June 14 is a special day of observance. 

What are the rules of etiquette for displaying and caring for the U.S. flag?
Public Law 94-344, known as the Federal Flag Code, identifies rules for displaying and caring for the U.S. flag. 
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Here are a few of the common sense rules to show respect for the flag.

• Let the flag fly free.
• Don't let the flag touch anything beneath it such as the ground, the floor, water, etc.
• Don't drape the flag, and don't draw it back in folds.
• Don't display the flag during inclement weather unless it is an all-weather flag.
• Don't display the flag at night unless it is illuminated.
• Don't use flags for clothing, drapery, or bedding.
• When the flag is worn out, retire it with dignity, preferably by burning.  Military veterans' organizations often conduct ceremonies to retire U.S. flags on Flag Day.

 
Visit these two websites for more details.

• "The American Flag," https://www.usa.gov/flag 
• "Guidelines for Display of the Flag," ​​​https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate/flagdisplay.pdf 

What do Americans do on Flag Day?   
Parades, ceremonies, and festivities in honor of the day are all possible.  But most of all, Americans proudly fly the U.S. flag!  

The flag's fifty stars--one for each state in the Union--and thirteen stripes--one for each of the original thirteen states--are a living reminder of the sacrifice and hard work required to build and maintain a representative democracy, a democratic republic which

• cherishes the search for the objective truth,
• builds trust, and 
• respects the rights of each human being.

That's a big order.  

Americans haven't gotten it perfect.  But we keep trying. 

The flag is a symbol of those who have gone before us, those who will come after us, and, today, for the duty of each of us to make our nation a more perfect Union. 

The cannon reported at 1700 sharp. 

Drivers, passengers, and pedestrians all over post stopped and turned toward the direction of the American flag as retreat sounded.  Cha placed her hand over her heart and stood as tall as she could, listening to the clink of steel hooks against the flagpole as the heavy cotton flag began its sedate descent.

She had served in a color guard twice at Fort McClellan during basic....No cannon boomed then, and the Army-at-large didn’t much care what the women were doing out there in Alabama, but her color guard reflected the dignity of the task, proud to fold the Stars and Stripes into a neat triangle at the end of the day."

Women's Company - The Minerva Girls 
Chapter 10, page 72
--Lynne Schall

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Sources:  

1. ​Photo by Joseph Fulgham of Dover, USA.  Free download from Pixabay (accessed June 10, 2021)
2. "Bernard J. Cigrand, DDS:  Father of Flag Day and Renaissance Man," https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17616013/ (accessed June 11, 2021)
3. "The Father of Flag Day:  Bernard Cigrand," postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/long-may-it-wave-flag-day/the-father-of-flag-day-bernard-cigrand.    (accessed new address on November 9, 2022)
4. "June 14, Flag Day and the Local Connection:  Dr. Bernard J. Cigrand," www.aurorahistory.net/june-14-flag-day-and-the-local-connection-dr-bernard-j-cigrand/ (accessed June 12, 2021)
5. "The American Flag," https://www.usa.gov/flag​ (accessed June 11, 2021)
6. "Guidelines for Display of the Flag" https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate/flagdisplay.pdf (accessed June 11, 2021)
7. Excerpt from Women's Company - The Minerva Girls, Chapter 10, page 72, by Lynne Schall, 2016.