Old Glory

June 14th is a small and often neglected official observance, Flag Day. This day has been designated as the special day when Americans honor their flag. Beginning in 2016 the entire week in which this date falls has been set aside for waving out flag.
   A proclamation from the President of the United States urges all citizens to fly the flag during this week.
   Flag Day, June 14, 1777 was the day our flag was adopted by the Second Continental Congress. The resolution was actually published on September 2, 1777. Our flag was adopted before the Revolutionary War ended in 1783 and ten years before the ratification of the Constitution, which established us as a nation in 1787.
   It coincides with the adoption of the "American Continental Army" on June 14, 1775. Was the date chosen on purpose or by accident? History doesn't tell us.
   The story of Betsy Ross's work on the flag is familiar to all, but an interesting footnote to the story are the number of points on the stars. George Washington's sketch shows six-pointed stars, which is the British style. Our flag carries five-pointed stars, which is the French fashion. Was the change made to pay tribute to France for their aid during the Revolution.
   This date is also the anniversary of the "Bear Flag Revolt" in 1846, when thirty-three Americans and Mountain Men arrested the Mexician general in Sonoma and declared the Bear Flag Republic. This territory later became the state of California.
   All the stories of our flag's beginnings make interesting reading and there are set formal procedures for flying out flag. They do not include using it as a logo or pattern on lunch boxes, purses, beach towels, jackets, or other items as it has been in recent years.
   The flag flies high, free, and clear of all obstacles. It is never dipped, except as a time honored custom of greeting when ships meet at sea, then it becomes a salute.
   Ole Glory, is our most visible symbol of who we are and what we stand for as Americans. Our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, is a salute to our flag written by Francis Scott Keyes as he stood on the deck of a ship waiting through the night to see if she still flew. The actual flag that Keyes witnessed hangs in the Smithsonian.
                           Long May She Wave.
Nash Black

    

Long May She Wave

We normally don't post two items the same day, but this morning we went over to the state park for breakfast and saw some items which hit a sore spot.

Today, Sunday, June 14th is Flag Day. A special day when we honor our country's flag. It is important that we remember this day so we are writing almost after-the-fact because since 9/11 many sightings of our American flag have not been in honor, but desecration.
Myth holds that George Washington asked Betsy Ross, a seamstress, in Philadelphia to construct our first stars and bars after the resolution of the Second Continental Congress was passed on June 14, 1777. It read:
"Resolved: that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."
There may have been a rough sketch involved or a copy of the resolution that was published on September 2, 1777.
An interesting point is that Washington, himself, used six pointed stars, which was the British style. The stars on our coins at the time had six points, yet our flag uses the French style of five points and may have originally been a gesture to salute that nation for their aid during the Revolution.

These are ten brief guidelines on how to fly the flag of the United States of America.
1. The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously.
2. Then it is never allowed to touch the ground or the floor.
3. When hung over a sidewalk on a rope extending from a building to a pole, the union stars are always away from the building.
4.When vertically hung over the center of the street, the flag always had the union stars to the north in an east/west street, and to the east in a north/south street.
5. The flag of the United States of America should be at the center and the highest point of the group when a number of flags of states or localities or pennants of societies are grouped and displayed from staffs.
6. The flag should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free.
7. The flag should be displayed at half-staff on Memorial Day until noon, then raised to the top of the staff.
8. Never fly the flag upside down except as a signal of distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
9. The flag is never flown during inclement weather except when using an all-weather flag.
10. The flag can be flown every day from sunrise to sunset and at night if properly illuminated.

Nash Black's Twitter post for Flag Day was: Wave it. Don't wear it.