We celebrate Flag Day across the United States on June 14 each year to honor the United States flag and to commemorate the flag’s adoption. This is a day set aside for Americans to reflect on the foundations of the nation’s freedom. The flag of the United States represents freedom and has been an enduring symbol of the country’s ideals since its early days.

Flag Day honors a June 14, 1777, resolution from the Second Continental Congress. The resolution was made following the report of a special committee which had been assigned to suggest the flag’s design. The resolution called “that the flag of the United States shall be of thirteen stripes of alternate red and white, with a union of thirteen stars of white in a blue field, representing the new constellation.”

The American flag has gone through many changes over the centuries. Today, it consists of 13 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars. Each of the 50 stars represents one of the 50 states in the United States and the 13 stripes represent the original 13 colonies that became the first states in the union.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, on May 30, 1916 a proclamation for Flag Day was issued.

“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,” President Woodrow Wilson said.

It wasn’t until August 3, 1949, that Congress approved the national observance, and President Harry Truman signed it into law.

Today, Flag Day is celebrated with parades, essay contests, ceremonies, and picnics sponsored by Veterans’ groups, schools, and groups like the National Flag Day Foundation whose goal is to preserve the traditions, history, pride, and respect that are due to the nation’s symbol, “Old Glory.” Many people in the United States also honor this day by displaying the American flag at homes and public buildings.

“When we honor our flag we honor what we stand for as a Nation – freedom, equality, justice, and hope.” –President Ronald Reagan