In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened on that day in 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. The United States Army also celebrates the Army Birthday on this date; Congress adopted the American continental army after reaching a consensus position in the Committee of the Whole on June 14, 1775. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_Day_(United_States) In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day; in August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress. Flag Day is not an official federal holiday. Title 36 of the United States Code, Subtitle I, Part A, CHAPTER 1, § 110 is the official statute on Flag Day; however, it is at the Presidents discretion to officially proclaim the observance. On June 14, 1937, Pennsylvania became the first (and only) U.S. state to celebrate Flag Day as a state holiday, beginning in the town of Rennerdale.New York Statutes designate the second Sunday in June as Flag Day, a state holiday. Perhaps the oldest continuing Flag Day parade is at Fairfield, Washington.Beginning in 1909 or 1910, Fairfield has held a parade every year since, with the possible exception of 1918, and celebrated the Centennial parade in 2010, along with some other commemorative events. Quincy, Massachusetts has had an annual Flag Day parade since 1952 and claims it is the longest-running parade of its kind in the nation. The largest Flag Day parade is held annually in Troy, New York, which bases its parade on the Quincy parade and typically draws 50,000 spectators. Woburn Massachusetts also holds a carnival and put on a firework display every year. Working as a grade school teacher in Waubeka, Wisconsin, in 1885, Bernard J. Cigrand held the first recognized formal observance of Flag Day at the Stony Hill School. The school has been restored, and a bust of Cigrand also honors him at the National Flag Day Americanism Center in Waubeka. From the late 1880s on, Cigrand spoke around the country promoting patriotism, respect for the flag, and the need for the annual observance of a flag day on June 14, the day in 1777 that the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes. He moved to Chicago to attend dental school and, in June 1886, first publicly proposed an annual observance of the birth of the United States flag in an article titled The Fourteenth of June, published in the Chicago Argus newspaper. In June 1888, Cigrand advocated establishing the holiday in a speech before the Sons of America, a Chicago group. The organization founded a magazine, American Standard, in order to promote reverence for American emblems. Cigrand was appointed editor-in-chief and wrote articles in the magazine as well as in other magazines and newspapers to promote the holiday. On the third Saturday in June 1894, a public school children’s celebration of Flag Day took place in Chicago at Douglas, Garfield, Humboldt, Lincoln, and Washington Parks. More than 300,000 children participated, and the celebration was repeated the next year. Cigrand became president of the American Flag Day Association and later of the National Flag Day Society, which allowed him to promote his cause with organizational backing. Cigrand once noted he had given 2,188 speeches on patriotism and the flag. Cigrand lived in Batavia, Illinois, from 1913–1932. Cigrand generally is credited with being the Father of Flag Day, with the Chicago Tribune noting that he almost singlehandedly established the holiday. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airlines_Flight_471
Posted on: Fri, 13 Jun 2014 21:53:30 +0000