Flag Day

Tomorrow is Flag Day, which marks the anniversary of the adoption by Congress of the Stars and Stripes as emblem of the nation (in 1777). This year celebrates the 236th birthday of the U.S. Flag.

There will be a number of Flag Day observances scheduled throughout New England. These events include a Flag Day observance at the Town Green in East Haven, CT; a Flag Day presentation at the Maine Veterans Cemetery in which Caribou will dedicate the recently completed Avenue of Flags; the annual Pause for the Pledge of Allegiance on the Upper Common by the World War II Monument in Wakefield, MA; and a performance of patriotic music by the ROMPS (Retired Old Musicians Playing Swing) at the South Kingstown, RI, Senior Center.

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The National 9/11 Flag is scheduled to arrive arrives at the Old State House tomorrow. This event and its related activities are scheduled from 9:00 AM until 12:00 Noon. One of the planned activities is the stitching of part of an American flag that flew over the state Capitol onto the National 9/11 Flag. (By the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks, it is planned that the national flag will include swatches of banners from all 50 states.)

To access a Hartford Courant article related to this event, please visit:

Hartford Courant: National 9/11 Flag Coming To Hartford (12 JUN 11)

For more information about the National 9/11 Flag, please visit:

National 9/11 Flag

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As part of this region’s observance of Flag Day, a long-running tradition will continue in Quincy, MA. The 60th annual Quincy Flag Day Parade and Celebration, the longest-running Flag Day parade in the nation, will be on Saturday, 18 June. The parade will step-off from Coddington Street at 7:00 PM and make its approximate 1.5 mile march through the city, disbanding at Pageant Field (where it will be followed by a fireworks display).The parade roster includes bands and other representations from various civic and other community groups, as well as about 2,000 flag-waving young people representing various youth organizations throughout the city (it’s an opportunity for any young child in the city to wave a flag and march in the parade). The celebration portion of the evening to be held at Pageant Field following the parade consists of a flag raising of a 30' x 60' version of Old Glory, a fly-over, a patriotic medley, presentation of awards, and a 30-minute fireworks display over Black's Creek.

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I offer a few reflections as we enter into this year’s observance:

“I am the Flag”

by Ruth Apperson Rous

I am the flag of the United States of America.

I was born on June 14, 1777, in Philadelphia.

There the Continental Congress adopted my stars and stripes as the national flag.

My thirteen stripes alternating red and white, with a union of thirteen white stars in a field of blue, represented a new constellation, a new nation dedicated to the personal and religious liberty of mankind.

Today fifty stars signal from my union, one for each of the fifty sovereign states in the greatest constitutional republic the world has ever known.

My colors symbolize the patriotic ideals and spiritual qualities of the citizens of my country.

My red stripes proclaim the fearless courage and integrity of American men and boys and the self-sacrifice and devotion of American mothers and daughters.

My white stripes stand for liberty and equality for all.

My blue is the blue of heaven, loyalty, and faith.

I represent these eternal principles: liberty, justice, and humanity.

I embody American freedom: freedom of speech, religion, assembly, the press, and the sanctity of the home.

I typify that indomitable spirit of determination brought to my land by Christopher Columbus and by all my forefathers – the Pilgrims, Puritans, settlers at James town and Plymouth.

I am as old as my nation.

I am a living symbol of my nation’s law: the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.

I voice Abraham Lincoln’s philosophy: “A government of the people, by the people,for the people.”

I stand guard over my nation’s schools, the seedbed of good citizenship and true patriotism.

I am displayed in every schoolroom throughout my nation; every schoolyard has a flag pole for my display.

Daily thousands upon thousands of boys and girls pledge their allegiance to me and my country.

I have my own law – Public Law 829, “The Flag Code” – which definitely states my correct use and display for all occasions and situations.

I have my special day, Flag Day. June 14 is set aside to honor my birth.

Americans, I am the sacred emblem of your country. I symbolize your birthright, your heritage of liberty purchased with blood and sorrow.

I am your title deed of freedom, which is yours to enjoy and hold in trust for posterity.

If you fail to keep this sacred trust inviolate, if I am nullified and destroyed, you and your children will become slaves to dictators and despots.

Eternal vigilance is your price of freedom.

As you see me silhouetted against the peaceful skies of my country, remind yourself that I am the flag of your country, that I stand for what you are – no more, no less.

Guard me well, lest your freedom perish from the earth.

Dedicate your lives to those principles for which I stand: “One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

I was created in freedom. I made my first appearance in a battle for human liberty.

God grant that I may spend eternity in my “land of the free and the home of the brave” and that I shall ever be known as “Old Glory,” the flag of the United States of America.

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"Ragged Old Flag," performed by Johnny Cash:

Johnny Cash: "Ragged Old Flag"

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Red Skelton's commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance:

Red Skelton's on the Pledge of Allegiance

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Background Information:

The History Of Flag Day