June 14 is Flag Day

SAR and the creation of Flag Day

In 1861, when the news that the United States flag had been taken down in disgrace at Fort Sumter and the Confederate flag raised in its place many Americans were incensed.   Charles Dudley Warner, Editor of The Hartford Press urged the observance of a national Flag Day.  This urging was taken to heart by future members of the Connecticut Society of the Sons of Revolutionary Sires (the predecessor to the Sons of the American Revolution).  The first publicized observance of having Flag Day on June 14, throughout the country was upon the recommendation of the members of the Connecticut Society, Sons of the American Revolution.  The first celebrations of Flag Day occurred in 1877, the centennial of the U.S. flag's existence.  After this date many citizens and organizations advocated the adoption of a national day of commemoration for the U.S. Flag.

Some noted examples are as follows:  On June 14, 1889, George Balch, a kindergarten teacher in New York City, planned appropriate ceremonies for the children of his school, and his idea of observing Flag Day was later adopted by the State Board of Education of New York.  On June 14, 1891, the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia held a Flag Day celebration, and on June 14 of the following year, the New York Society of the Sons of the Revolution, celebrated Flag Day.

Following the suggestion of Colonel J Granville Leach (at the time historian of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution), the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames of America on April 25, 1893 adopted a resolution requesting the mayor of Philadelphia and all others in authority and all private citizens to display the Flag on June 14th.  Leach went on to recommend that thereafter the day be known as 'Flag Day', and on that day, school children be assembled for appropriate exercises, with each child being given a small Flag.

Two weeks later on May 8th, the Board of Managers of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution unanimously endorsed the action of the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames.  As a result of the resolution, Dr. Edward Brooks, then Superintendent of Public Schools of Philadelphia, directed that Flag Day exercises be held on June 14, 1893 in Independence Square. School children were assembled, each carrying a small Flag, and patriotic songs were sung and addresses delivered.

During this same period the different State Societies of the Sons of the American Revolution were promoting the observance of a National Flag Day in states around the union.  Many of the local communities around the country adopted resolutions or proclamations establishing June 14th as a day to honor our Nation's Flag.

In 1894, the governor of New York directed that on June 14 the Flag be displayed on all public buildings.  With BJ Cigrand and Leroy Van Horn as the moving spirits, the Illinois organization, known as the American Flag Day Association, was organized for the purpose of promoting the holding of Flag Day exercises.   On June 14th, 1894, under the auspices of this association, the first general public school children's celebration of Flag Day in Chicago was held in Douglas, Garfield, Humboldt, Lincoln, and Washington Parks, with more than 300,000 children participating.

Adults, too, participated in patriotic programs.  Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, delivered a 1914 Flag Day address in which he repeated words he said the flag had spoken to him that morning:  "I am what you make me; nothing more.  I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself."

Inspired by decades of state and local celebrations, Flag Day - the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777 - was officially established by the Proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30th, 1916.  While Flag Day was celebrated in various communities for years after Wilson's proclamation, it was not until August 3rd, 1949, that President Harry S. Truman (a member of the Missouri Society of the Sons of the American Revolution) signed an Act of Congress designating June 14th of each year as National Flag Day.


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Last updated: July 24, 2008.

                                   
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