The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag: “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”, should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform men should remove any non-religious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute.
—4 U.S. Code § 4
The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing.
—From 4 U.S. Code § 8(j)
On this day each year, Americans celebrate National Flag Day. “Old Glory” was officially born as the fourth resolution of the day on June 14th, 1777, by the Second Continental Congress. The resolution from that Saturday 238 years ago reads:
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.
On June 14th, 1885, a 19-year-old grade school teacher in tiny, unincorporated Waubeka just north of Milwaukee was the first to formally signify a day to recall the birth of our flag. The teacher’s name was Bernard J. Cigrand. In the years after, Bernard continued to share his patriotism, his enthusiasm for the U.S. flag, and his desire for a national day of recognition of it with people across the country. Many consider his role pivotal in the creation of the day we’ve come to know nationwide as Flag Day.
Woodrow Wilson issued the first presidential proclamation of a national Flag Day in 1916. His words from a century ago hold relevance even today.
My Fellow Countrymen:
Many circumstances have recently conspired to turn our thoughts to a critical examination of the conditions of our national life, of the influences which have seemed to threaten to divide us in interest and sympathy, of forces within and forces without that seemed likely to draw us away from the happy traditions of united purpose and action of which we have been so proud, It has therefore seemed to me fitting that I should call your attention to the approach of the anniversary of the day upon which the flag of the United States was adopted by the Congress as the emblem of the Union, and to suggest to you that it should this year and in the years to come be given special significance as a day of renewal and reminder, a day upon which we should direct our minds with a special desire of renewal to thoughts of the ideals and principles of which we have sought to make our great Government the embodiment.
I therefore suggest and request that throughout the nation and if possible in every community the fourteenth day of June be observed as FLAG DAY with special patriotic exercises, at which means shall be taken to give significant expression to our thoughtful love of America, our comprehension of the great mission of liberty and justice to which we have devoted ourselves as a people, our pride in the history and our enthusiasm for the political programme of the nation, our determination to make it greater and purer with each generation, and our resolution to demonstrate to all the world its, vital union in sentiment and purpose, accepting only those as true compatriots who feel as we do the compulsion of this supreme allegiance. Let us on that day rededicate ourselves to the nation, “one and inseparable” from which every thought that is not worthy of our fathers’ first vows in independence, liberty, and right shall be excluded and in which we shall stand with united hearts, for an America which no man can corrupt, no influence draw away from its ideals, no force divide against itself,-a nation signally distinguished among all the nations of mankind for its clear, individual conception alike of its duties and its privileges, its obligations and its rights.
Though celebrated in American communities and recognized by U.S. presidents in the years that followed, National Flag Day did not become an official observance established by federal law until Congress passed the act that President Truman signed in 1949.
This whole week is designated as National Flag Week, so display your nation’s colors with joy and pride, America!
Today marks another occasion that shaped our great nation. This day is the 240th birthday of the United States Army. On June 14th, 1775, the Continental Congress resolved the following:
That six companies of expert rifflemen, be immediately raised in Pensylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia; that each company consist of a captain, three lieutenants, four serjeants, four corporals, a drummer or trumpeter, and sixty-eight privates.
That each company, as soon as compleated, shall march and join the army near Boston, to be there employed as light infantry, under the command of the chief Officer in that army.
That the pay of the Officers and privates be as follows, viz. a captain @ 20 dollars per month; a lieutenant @ 13 1/3 dollars; a serjeant @ 8 dollars; a corporal @ 7 1/3 dollars; drummer or [trumpeter] @71/3 doll.; privates @ 6 2/3 dollars; to find their own arms and cloaths.
That the form of the enlistment be in the following words:
I have, this day, voluntarily enlisted myself, as a soldier, in the American continental army, for one year, unless sooner discharged: And I do bind myself to conform, in all instances, to such rules and regulations, as are, or shall be, established for the government of the sad. Army.
Upon motion, Resolved, That Mr. [George] Washington, Mr. [Philip] Schuyler, Mr. [Silas] Deane, Mr. [Thomas] Cushing, and Mr. [Joseph] Hewes be a committee to bring in a dra’t of Rules and regulations for the government of the army.
And so one of the greatest fighting forces the world has ever known was created. Here is the Army’s official song “The Army Goes Rolling Along,” as performed by the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own.”
In a related little side story, “The Third Army March” is a march that Chief Warrant Officer Gregorio A. Diaz composed in 1945 in dedication to “Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. and the gallant officers and men of the Third U.S. Army.” Though used in various army ceremonies post-WWII, the music remained unrecorded, and the composition was forgotten over the years. While visiting Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina in 2012, a serviceman rediscovered the musical score sitting in a trophy case, and he brought it to the attention of the U.S. Army Band. After some edits and fixes, Pershing’s Own recorded its rendition of the march in 2013:
It seemed fitting to recognize both National Flag Day and the U.S. Army’s birthday with a performance of “The Stars and Stripes Forever” by the United States Army Field Band.
Happy Birthday to the mighty United States Army, as well as to our peerless Stars and Stripes! And a humble “thank you” to all the members of the United States Army for all that you do to ensure that our Star-Spangled Banner continues to wave.
