Shade Tree Wisdom 6/14/08

Flag Day

In 1885, public school teacher B J Cigrand arranged for the pupils in the Fredonia, Wisconsin, public school, District 6, to observe June 14, (the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of the stars and stripes), as “flag birthday”. The teacher advocated this in newspapers and articles over the next years.

President Wilson officially established flag resolution on May 30, 1916. But it was not till August 3, 1949, that President Truman signed an act of Congress establishing June 14th as official Flag Day.

So today we can sing:
You’re a grand old flag, you’re high-flying flag,
And forever in peace may she wave.
The emblem of, the land I love,
The home of the free and the brave.
Every heart beats true,
With the red, white, and blue.

Alexander Annin began making flags for merchant ships only 50 years after the flag was born. Today the Annin Company is the biggest maker of flags. Each stripe is sewn individually, and each star is fit exactly. The Annin flags have flown for Presidential inaugurations since the days of Zachary Taylor. It was the flag raised at Iowa Jima and the flag draped over Lincoln’s coffin as it lay in state.

Henry Holcomb Bennett wrote:
“Hats off, along the street there comes, a blare of bugle, a ruffle of drums.
A flash of color beneath the sky, Hats off, the Flag is passing by.”

Through the years the flag has evoked emotion and feelings in hearts young and old. It speaks simply of the freedoms we hold high in this country, the very freedoms that lure so many to our shores. It is the feeling that speaks of sacrifice, separation, hardship, struggle, and peace.

And as God’s children, we appreciate that. The flag is a symbol. We cringe when it is burned and mistreated by little minds bent on destruction. But we daily thank God for the blessings this country, this home, offers us. And so Flag Day remains for us, a time for thanksgiving, and remembrance. Indeed, “O give thanks unto the lord, for He is good, and His mercy endureth forever.”

GPD 6/14/08