Some Thoughts on Flag Day

Happy Flag Day!

June 14, 1777 was the day that the Stars and Stripes were adopted as the flag of the U.S.  More than 100 years later, many Americans began celebrating the birthday of the flag. Flag Day was officially established by a proclamation by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916.  On August 3, 1949, an Act of Congress signed by President Harry Truman designated June 14 as Flag Day.

Of course, the United States of America is a nation with many faults, like every other nation.  But I would argue that, in the quest for governance that provides its citizens with the greatest benefits, the "American experiment" of government begun on these shores in 1776 and preserved at great cost over the years is the most successful the world has yet seen.  Perfect?  No, not by any means.  But important and worth celebrating.

I imagine that citizens of every great nation feel a real pride in their citizenship and salute their flags with gratitude.  Today I do the same.  Although I know that this world is not my home, I am grateful that I have the privilege of living in the United States of America, and today I proudly display my flag.

On this day particularly, I like to remember the verses to Francis Scott Key's wonderful poem that now provides the lyrics to our national anthem.

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

What country are you from?  Do you display your country's flag?