Commentary; Posted: 6/9/04

Flag Dayóthe star spangled banner

Pastor John C. Blackford
Religion Columnist

Flag Day, one of three patriotic days in close succession, along with Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, will be observed Monday, June 14.

The first Flag Day was celebrated in 1877 and marked the 100th anniversary of the American flag, but it was not until 1885 that plans for a public celebration began.

That year, B.J. Cigrand, a teacher from Wisconsin, pushed to observe June 14 as the birthday of the flag. He held the first Flag Day exercise in a little schoolhouse near Fredonia, WI.

In the years that followed, Cigrand wrote newspaper and magazine articles and gave many speeches advocating the observance of Flag Day. His efforts were rewarded and on May 30, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson declared June 14 National Flag Day. In August of 1949 President Harry Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14 National Flag Day.

Most of us are familiar with the story of the creation of our first flag by Betsy Ross. She was a seamstress from Philadelphia, PA who lived during the Revolutionary War. In 1777 the Continental Congress, seeing the need for an emblem expressing their desire for freedom, appointed George Washington and several others for this task. They commissioned Ross to make a national flag. Her work met with such great approval that she received a contract to furnish all government flags. After her death the business was carried on for 20 years by her daughter.

That first flag had 13 stripes and 13 stars, representing the 13 colonies. Our flag today has the same number of stripes, but 50 stars for our 50 states. George Washingtonís original pencil sketch for the flag used six pointed stars. Ross recommended a five-pointed version. When the committee protested, claiming it was too difficult to create a five pointed star, she showed them how she could make a five-pointed star with a single snip of her scissors. They were impressed, and agreed to use her star for the flag. As states were added to the Union, stars were added to the U.S. flag.

When the writerís father, a World War I veteran, died in 1960, he was buried at Ft. Snelling National Cemetery. The flag from our government over his casket had 48 stars (Alaska and Hawaii had not yet become states), and this is the flag flown at our home on patriotic occasions. Perhaps the most dramatic portrayal of our flag is the flag raising on the island of Iwo Jima in WWII, when brave men risked their lives to lay claim to what had been an enemy stronghold.

Banners have been used for centuries to declare the aspirations of people. In Psalm 60:4 we read ìThou hast given a banner to those who reverence thee, that it may be displayed in the cause of truth.î

When we pledge allegiance to the flag, we are not worshiping it, but rather declaring our belief in and loyalty to the values it represents. St. Paul writes in Romans 13:1 ìThe powers that be are ordained of God,î suggesting that our allegiance to temporal authorities and the expression of it is legitimate.

Fly your flag this coming Flag Day. Show your colors. Express your faith in freedom and democracy.

Acknowledgements: Minneapolis Star Tribune, June 14, 2003 and Veterans of Foreign War mailings. For further information visit www.ushistory.org/betsy or www.vfw.org online.

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