5 things to know about Flag Day

Many Americans associate Flag Day with happiness because it generally falls on or around the last day of school on June 14.

Despite that joyful coincidence, Flag Day stands for something far more significant with origins that date back centuries. The fact that school usually was out by the time Flag Day rolled around might explain why we know so little about it.

“What a lot of people don’t know is that every year the (sitting) president of the United States issues a presidential proclamation to the citizens of the United States in observation of Flag Day. All it asks is for Americans to fly their flag to honor Flag Day,” said Alicia MunzPhelps, administrator for the Pittsburgh-based National Flag Foundation. “A lot of Americans don’t know that. The proclamation asks Americans to remember what the flag stands for and why you should be flying it.”

Here are five things Americans should know about Flag Day.

The origins

It was our first president, George Washington, who is said to have consulted with Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross to create a new flag in June of 1776, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior. Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777, by resolution of the second Continental Congress — the three congressional bodies of the 13 Colonies and the new United States that met between 1774 and 1789.

The first battle

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the flag consisting of 13 alternating red and white stripes and 13 white stars in a blue field — representing the colonies — was first carried into battle on Sept. 11, 1777, in the Battle of Brandywine, during the Revolutionary War, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The first observance

The Department of Veterans Affairs said the most widely recognized claim for the first Flag Day service refers to an event held June 14, 1889, in New York City at a free kindergarten for the poor. A principal named George Bolch had the school hold patriotic ceremonies to observe the anniversary of the Flag Day resolution. Evidently, it caught on because, in the late 1800s, schools all over the U.S. reportedly held Flag Day programs to contribute to the Americanization of immigrant children. The observance also became popular with individual communities.

Pittsburgh connection

Collier native William T. Kerr, credited with founding the American Flag Day Association while still a schoolboy in Pittsburgh, was given “Father of Flag Day” honors in 1888. His efforts likely inspired President Woodrow Wilson, in 1916, and President Calvin Coolidge, in 1927, to issue proclamations asking for June 14 to be observed as the National Flag Day. Also in 1927, Kerr inspired more than 180,000 children to give a penny each to build a monument to Old Glory, as it’s sometimes called, in Schenley Park. It was dedicated on June 14, 1927, for the 150th anniversary of the flag’s creation. However, it took until August 3, 1949, when Kerr was in his 80s, for Congress to approve the national observance. When President Harry Truman signed it into law, Kerr was at his side.

What happens on Flag Day

It’s a pretty simple observance. While some areas host parades and picnics, Americans generally celebrate Flag Day by displaying the red, white and blue in front of their homes and businesses to commemorate the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States. Stars have been added to the flag over the years with the total number reaching 50 in 1960, after Hawaii became the 50th state.

“What we’ve done at the National Flag Foundation over the last few years, we’ve had events at the U.S. Steel headquarters, we’ve had one down at the Koppers Building (where the organization is headquartered),” MunzPhelps said. “We just want Flag Day to become a more recognized and unifying day for our country. Our word around Flag Day is just ‘Fly your flag.’ ”