Yesterday, June 14, was supposed to be Flag Day in the United States.
Flag Day is essentially a non-holiday in the United States and is supposed to commemorate the day the in 1777 when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Star and Stripes as the official flag of the United States.
The Second Continental Congress’ flag resolution stated “That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”
Flag Day has nothing to do with the founding of U.S. Army or the birthday of the current, and thus far only, American dictator. Those things are only related by a coincidence of the June 14 date.
The flag’s non-holiday was, unsurprisingly, a byproduct of war. The first Flag Day was created in 1861 as a means of rallying support for the Union in the first American Civil War.
Charles Dudley Warner, American essayist, novelist, lawyer, newspaper editor and friend of Mark Twain, proposed a day to celebrate the flag. This coincided with the fact that flags could be mass produced for the first time by printing them on a single sheet of cloth rather than stitched together.
In 1885 reverence for American flag was raised to near cult worship status by Bernard J. Cigrand, a grade school teacher in Wisconsin.
Cigrand created a career of flag worship for himself, traveling the nation speaking about patriotism and reverence for the flag. In 1886 he moved to Chicago to become a dentist and he published an article in the Chicago Argus newspaper advocating for a national holiday honoring the flag.
140th U.S. Flag Day poster. 1777-1917. The birthday of the stars and stripes, June 14th, 1917. ‘Tis the Star Spangled Banner, oh, long may it wave, o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!” Library of Congress description: “Poster showing a man raising the American flag, with a minuteman cheering and an eagle flying above.”
The Sons of America, a Chicago group, founded a magazine, the American Standard. The magazine promoted reverence for all emblem American. Seizing on a career opportunity that didn’t involve tooth decay, Cigrand was named editor of the magazine and proceeded to write articles for numerous publications promoting Flag Day as a holiday.
Cigrand became president of the American Flag Day Association, an organization created in 1888 by William T. Kerr of Pennsylvania and then the National Flag Day Society. Kerr became the organization’s national chairman.
Along the way numerous others, often educators, were involved in the promotion of flag worship.
In 1889, the principal of a free kindergarten, George Bolch, celebrated the Revolution and celebrated Flag Day, as well.
In 1891, Sarah Hinson, a school teacher in Buffalo, NY, began Flag Day exercises to teach children to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
In 1893, Elizabeth Duane Gillespie, a descendant of Benjamin Franklin and the president of the Colonial Dames of Pennsylvania, tried to get the American flag displayed on all public buildings in Philadelphia. Philadelphia’s Betsy Ross House has long been the site of the city of brotherly love’s observance of Flag Day.
It wasn’t until 1937, that Pennsylvania became the first state to make Flag Day a legal holiday.
In 1907, fraternal social club the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks designated June 14 as Flag Day. Celebration of the day is required of by every Elks Lodge to this day.
140th U.S. Flag Day poster. 1777-1917. The birthday of the stars and stripes, June 14th, 1917. ‘Tis the Star Spangled Banner, oh, long may it wave, o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!” Library of Congress description: “Poster showing a man raising the American flag, with a minuteman cheering and an eagle flying above.”
It was the Elks that in 1916, pushed racist and isolationist president Woodrow Wilson to declare June 14 Flag Day, but he did not make the day a federal holiday. Wilson would later change his mind, send troops to Europe and wage a ruthless repression campaign in the United Sates in support of America’s entry into the war, which had already been in progress since August 1914.
But I digress.
For Flag Day 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched an international “United Flag Day” or “United Nations Day”, celebrating solidarity among the World War II Allies, six months after the Declaration by United Nations. Flag Day was observed in New York City as the “New York at War” parade. This took place throughout the United States and internationally from 1942 to 1944.
Official worship of the flag in the United Sates is actually not limited to a single day.
Flag Day itself is usually designated as the second Sunday in June, but the federal government likes to play around the date.
National Flag Week this year was June 8–14, 2025 and next year it will take place June 14–20, 2026. We’ll see if next year offers up a retread of this year’s lack luster alleged Army anniversary parade and “celebration” of Dear Leader’s 80th birthday.
Normally the president issues a proclamation of Flag Week, but this year the White House didn’t get around to a proclamation until the June 13, the day before the birthday parade. Coincidence? Maybe.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/flag-day-and-national-flag-week-2025/
There’s controversy about which municipality claims the oldest Flag Day celebrations, proving that Flag Day is one thing the nation is not exactly united about.
Fairfield, Wa., has had a parade a Fairfield Flag Day celebration of the flag every year beginning in 1909 or 1910, , with the possible exceptions of 1918 and 2020 when deadly flu and COVID epidemics were running rampant.
Appleton, Wisconsin, claims says it has the oldest National Flag Day parade in the nation, taking place annually since 1950. Appleton could really use some help with its Flag Day website if anyone out there is up for that.
https://applications.appleton.org/parades/flagday%202015/
Quincy, Mass., the “City of Presidents,” has staged an annual Flag Day parade since 1952. Quincy claims that it “is the longest-running parade of its kind.” Fireworks are included.
Three Oaks, Mi., had a three-day Flag Day event. Three Oaks claims to have the nation’s largest and oldest flag day parade. Fireworks are also included in the Three Oaks celebration.
https://threeoaksflagday.com/index.html
Ya gotta have bomb’s bursting in air, correct?
In at least one American city, Flag Day just kind of petered out.
Troy, NY, based its Flag Day parade on the Quincy parade, drawing about 50,000 in the years between 1967 to 2017. After 50 years of claiming their Flag Day celebrations were the largest in the nation, the Troy parade came to an end, according to the Troy Times-Union newspaper.