Submitted by ADeFrancesco on

Celebrating Flag Day

Mary-Mac Barnett, National Chair of The Flag of the United States of America Committee

A significant birthday for the USA is fast approaching...it is June 14, 2014 which will be Flag Day.  On this date we commemorate the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the Flag of the United States by resolution of the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. 

Over the following years we celebrated the Flag on July 4th but a schoolteacher from Wisconsin had another plan.  Bernard J. Cigrand devoted his efforts to celebrating our flag on its own special day.  Mr. Cigrand and other fervent Americans saw their vision become reality in 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation calling for a nationwide observance of Flag Day.  Then in 1949, President Harry Truman signed an Act of Congress designating the 14th day of June every year as National Flag Day.

This year marks the bicentennial of Francis Scott Key penning the lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner.  The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will host a live singing party on the National Mall which will be shared across the nation and world via webcast from 2:30-4:00 pm EDT.   At 4 pm Americans will take time to sing their national anthem in one voice! Click here to learn more about participating in this special commemoration. http://anthemforamerica.smithsonian.com/

Please show your pride in Old Glory by displaying the flag at your home, business and school.  Encourage your chapter and community to join in the Anthem for America and sing the national anthem at 4 pm.  Let’s make it the "song that was heard around the world."