If you’re anything like me, you woke up this morning to a calendar pop-up saying that Flag Day is tomorrow, June 14. You probably know as much about Flag Day as I know about JoJo Siwa—I’ve heard of her, I know she has something to do with music, but I assume she’s for other people, so I’ve never looked into it further. But read on if you’re curious about Flag Day—where it came from, who celebrates it, why it exists, and what it all means.
What even is Flag Day?
Celebrated annually on June 14, Flag Day marks the anniversary of the 1777 Continental Congress decree solidifying the design of the American Flag with these inspiring words that all school children know by heart: “Resolved: 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.”
Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed June 14 to be Flag Day in 1916, and in 1949, Harry Truman made it official by signing the observance into law. A single day wasn’t patriotic enough though; in 1966, Congress declared that Flag Day falls in the middle of Flag Week. Take that, Communists.
Do I get to take a day off for Flag Day?
You don’t get time off for Flag Day (and don’t even think about Flag Week). Honoring the design of our flag is important for all Americans, but it is not important enough for a proper holiday, so the mail still gets delivered, federal offices and banks remain open, and there’s no three-day weekend. I think we can all agree that this is a rip-off.
Where did Flag Day come from?
In 1885, Bernard J. Cigrand, an 18-year-old teacher in Waubeka, Wisconsin assigned his students to write an essay about what the American flag means to them. Cigrand quit teaching soon after and left Wisconsin to become a dentist, but he never forgot his patriotic busywork assignment, and spent years lobbying the U.S. government to make the day into a holiday.
In a Flag Day speech in 1917, President Wilson tied the holiday to the necessity of sending American troops to Europe to fight in World War I. This was the first time the American military fought overseas, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think the real reason Flag Day exists is not due to a patriotic Wisconsin teacher’s writing assignment, but because of a campaign to sway public opinion to support America’s involvement in World War I.
How do people celebrate Flag Day?
According to military.com, “Flag Day is celebrated with parades, essay contests, ceremonies, and picnics sponsored by veterans groups, schools, and groups like the National Flag Day foundation.” I find this dubious. I love ceremonies and essay contests, but I have never attended any kind of Flag Day celebration, and neither have any of my thousands of friends, colleagues, and well-wishers.
The do celebrate in Waubeka, Wisconsin, ground-zero for Flag Day. This year, the town will be hosting a parade, a fireworks display, and a musical performance by Eric Barbieri And The Rockin’ Krakens.
Who designed the American Flag?
We honor the flag on Flag Day, but we don’t honor the graphic designer who invented it. The Continental Congress’ “here’s what our flag is going to be” proclamation doesn’t go into a lot of detail about how the alternating red and white stripes and stars should be arranged, so technically, you could put put ‘em anywhere, but someone came up with the design we all know and tolerate. We just don’t know for sure who it was.
It almost definitely wasn’t Betsy Ross. She did sew flags during the American Revolution, but the story that President Washington presented Ross with a rough sketch that she changed around to make our flag isn’t supported by any evidence beyond stories told in the Ross family, so historians are like, “nah.”
The leading suspect for flag designer is Francis Hopkinson, a founding father, poet, playwright, and musician who also had an eye for design. Among other iconic pieces of Americana, he created the Seal of the United States (and by extension the logo of The Ramones).
Hopkinson wrote a letter to the Board of Admiralty in 1780 requesting payment for designing the U.S. flag. He asked for a “quarter cask of the public wine,” but the request was denied, partly because the board said other, unnamed, people also worked on the flag design, and partly because the nation was broke.
Don’t we celebrate the flag on July 4? Isn’t that enough already?
July 4 is for celebrating our nation’s independence and our nation’s general awesomeness. Flag Day is for celebrating the symbol of our nation’s general awesomeness. Don’t worry about mixing it up though; It’s a free country so they won’t throw you in jail for it—YET.
