THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2024 - FLAG DAY

June 14, 2024

Flag Day is tomorrow - June 14, 2024 - but we can start the celebration today

(Are you old enough to remember three-cent stamps?)

June 14 (this Friday) is Flag Day

Flags have been around “forever.” Early flags were largely family flags—coats of arms. Certain nobility had their flags.  Many flags existed in the pre-United States colonies, such as the coiled snake with the encryption “Don’t Tread on Me.” 

President Wilson, in 1916, and President Coolidge, in 1927, issued proclamations asking for June 14 to be observed as the National Flag Day. But it wasn't until August 3, 1949, that Congress approved the national observance, and President Harry Truman signed it into law.

The story of Betsy Ross and the first American Flag is a fascinating tale, but it's important to note that it is a subject of historical debate:

“The story about the creation of the American flag is shrouded in as much legend as fact. Elizabeth Griscom Ross, better known as Betsy, was a seamstress who lived in Philadelphia. According to legend, George Washington employed Betsy to embroider his shirt ruffles. His knowledge of her skill led to a meeting on June 1st, 1776, when he, accompanied by Colonel George Ross and Robert Morris, presented Betsy with a rough sketch for a flag. Betsy’s descendants claim the three men requested her to create the depicted flag. At BetsyRoss’s suggestion, Washington re-drew the design with five-point stars rather than six-point stars.

Generations of the Ross family passed down the story of Betsy Ross’s involvement in creating the first official American flag. In 1870, William J. Canby, a grandson of Betsy, recounted the story at the Pennsylvania Historical Society. Betsy Ross's legend and the flag's creation spread until most Americans accepted it as canon. Historians, however, have another viewpoint of the story. In the years since this tale first came to light, historians have not been able to verify the claims of Canby, even after numerous and vigorous searches through diaries, letters, and journals of the Continental Congress. No record exists of a flag being discussed around this time. While many Americans still believe that Betsy Ross was responsible for the first American flag, and while it makes for a nice story, sadly, it is most likely false.  (Oh No - there goes another one of my American beliefs)
https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/long-may-it-wave-the-evolution-of-the-american-flag/the-legend-of-betsy-ross

The story also goes that Washington wanted a six-pointed star - but Betsy Ross deftly snipped a five-point start in one cut!!  https://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagstar.html#google_vignette

There were thirteen stars—one for each colony—in a circle, so no state was more important than any other.  

When Kentucky and Vermont became states in 1796, the flag was altered to 15 stars and 15 stripes!!!  

Theoretically, when a new state was added, a new star was added, but the thirteen original strips became the standard. (We could have a flag with 50 stars and 50 stripes!!)

I was born (as many of us were) under the forty-eight-star flag. Then, in 1959, Alaska was added, and Hawaii was added in 1960, and we have had the fifty-star flag ever since.

There are plans for flags with fifty-one stars (and more) to keep the symmetry. (I’m unsure if we will ever have more than fifty -maybe Puerto Rico).

*****

And then, there is the Pledge to the Flag: 

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

In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God."

The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag should be rendered by standing at attention and facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform, men should remove any non-religious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand over the heart. Uniformed people should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute.

*****

Flag Day has additional memories for me.

My Grandparents (George and Stella Youtzy) were married on Flag Day in 1911 (both lived to age 78 and were married for 48 years)  My parents were married on Flag Day in 1940. Getting married on Flag Day - 1974 would be nice.  (Not a good move - anytime we had an anniversary, my parents celebrated with a BIGGER number!!!)  My mother (Helen White - lived to 98, and my father to 97).  They were married for 70 years. 

My ex-wife hated that we were married on Flag Day, even though we had been married for 47 years! Oh well, this year would have been 50 years!  

*****

You're a grand old flag

You're a high-flying flag

And forever in peace may you wave

You're the emblem of

The land I love

The home of the free and the brave

Ev'ry heart beats true

Under red, white and blue

Where there's never a boast or brag

But should old acquaintance be forgot Keep your eye on the grand old flag

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White, June 14, 2024 (or June 13, 2024!!)