Don’t Forget Flag Day

As a kid, I remember an elderly World War I veteran visiting our elementary school on a blistering hot day in June and handing out small lapel pins in the shape of a flag. I thought, “Nice pin, but why do we have a day to honor a flag?”

The date of June 14 commemorates the adoption of the United States flag by the Second Continental Congress in 1777. Although the first formal observance of Flag Day dates to 1885 at the Stony Hill School in Waubeka, Wisconsin, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation recognizing the day in 1916. It was not until 1949 that a National Flag Day was established through an Act of Congress. Flag Day is not recognized as a federal holiday, but Pennsylvania is the first and only state to recognize it as a state holiday.

Our flag is a powerful national symbol, one that unites us and reminds us of our common bond. In the words of George M. Cohan, it truly is “a grand old flag.”

Two American icons in one shot…this bronze statue is the largest known replica of Lady Liberty. It was moved from its location atop the Birmingham headquarters of the Liberty National Life Insurance Company to its present spot in Liberty Park in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1989.

This image of a young Abraham Lincoln silhouetted against a vivid blue sky and the Stars and Stripes in Alton, Illinois, speaks beautifully to the meaning behind our flag. Here Lincoln engaged Stephen Douglas in one of their famous debates over slavery as the country edged closer to civil war.

As our young nation pushed westward, they carried our flag into new territories. At Old Fort Harrod State Park in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, visitors can experience life on the American frontier in 1775.

The Deerfield Inn in Historic Deerfield, Massachusetts, is decked out in patriotic attire. For more than 125 years, the Deerfield Inn has offered guests traditional New England hospitality with all the comforts of home.

This commemorative flag is a powerful memorial to the heroes of Flight 93 who perished on September 11, 2001, in a field near Shanksville, in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania.




Gestures don’t need to be grand to make a statement. This lovely historic home in the Old Town district of Alexandria, Virginia, reminds us all that the simple act of flying the flag at home is a tribute in itself.


Do you have memories of Flag Day? Or, do you have a favorite place to view the flag. If so, please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Amy Verdin is a Gozaic consultant.

Photos top to bottom: Statue of Liberty courtesy of Greater Birmingham CVB. Lincoln-Douglas Square courtesy of Alton Regional CVB. Old Fort Harrod State Park courtesy of Carin Lovell. Deerfield Inn courtesy of Gregg Cooper. Shanksville Flight 93 Memorial courtesy of Cam Shust. Old Town Stairs courtesy of Alexandria CVA.