Published: June 14, 2009 02:11 pm      

Today we have a chance to learn about our flag

Flag Day is June 14 — today.

In 1885, a Wisconsin teacher arranged for his students to observe the date as the 108th anniversary of 1777’s official adoption of The Stars and Stripes.

The teacher thought it important for his students to learn the history and, more importantly, the meaning of the United States Flag.

It was a good idea at the time and a better one today.

While Flag Day was celebrated in various communities for years, it was not until 1949 that President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14 of each year as National Flag Day, honoring the anniversary of the first Flag Act on June 14, 1777.

On that date, in order to establish an official flag for the new nation, the Continental Congress “Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.”

Several acts and executive orders followed, each adjusting the design of the flag to incorporate the addition of states. President Monroe signed the Act of April 4, 1818, specifying 13 stripes and one star for each state.A new state’s star will be added to the flag on the Fourth of July following its admission to the union.

It was not until June 22, 1942, that Congress passed a joint resolution, amended on Dec. 22, 1942, that included sections for conduct during playing of the National Anthem and reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

We probably could all use a refresher course. According to www.usflag.org:

“When the flag is lowered, no part of it should touch the ground or any other object; it should be received by waiting hands and arms.

When the flag is displayed from a staff projecting from a window, balcony, or a building, the union should be at the peak of the staff unless the flag is at half staff.

“When it is displayed from the same flagpole with another flag — of a state, community, society or Scout unit — the flag of the United States must always be at the top.

“When the flag is displayed over a street, it should be hung vertically, with the union to the north or east. If the flag is suspended over a sidewalk, the flag’s union should be farthest from the building.”

When putting away the flag after displaying it proudly today or on other U.S. patriotic days, it should be folded neatly and ceremoniously. And, the flag should be cleaned and mended when necessary.

When a flag is so worn it is no longer fit to serve as a symbol of our country, it should be destroyed by burning in a dignified manner.

Criminal penalties for certain acts of desecration to the flag were contained in Title 18 of the United States Code prior to 1989. The Supreme Court decision in Texas v. Johnson; June 21, 1989, held the statute unconstitutional. This statute was amended when the Flag Protection Act of 1989 (Oct. 28, 1989) imposed a fine and/or up to one year in prison for knowingly mutilating, defacing, physically defiling, maintaining on the floor or trampling upon any flag of the United States. The Flag Protection Act of 1989 was struck down by the Supreme Court decision, United States vs. Eichman, decided on June 11, 1990.

Not too many citizens in our part of the country would desecrate the flag on purpose. We still believe it stands for something important to us — as is spelled out in the Pledge of Allegiance:

“I pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

As we recite the pledge — perhaps today — maybe we should take a moment to contemplate what the flag truly means to us..

In 1914, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane delivered a Flag Day address, repeating words he said the flag had spoken to him just that morning: “I am what you make me; nothing more. I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself.”