Flag Day is a celebration of the American flag that occurs each year on the anniversary of the flag’s official adoption, June 14.
Brief History of Our Flag
What we know fondly as the “Stars and Stripes” was adopted by the Continental Congress as the official American flag on June 14, 1777, in the Revolutionary War. Colonial troops fought under many different flags with various symbols—rattlesnakes, pine trees, and eagles—and slogans—” Don’t Tread on Me,” “Liberty or Death,” and “Conquer or Die,” to name a few.
The Declaration of Independence made the adoption of an American flag necessary. Previously, each colony or special interest had its flag. On that 14th of June, Congress made the Flag Resolution of 1777, stating: “The flag of the United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, with a union of thirteen stars of white on a blue field …” Official announcement of the new flag was not made until Sept. 3, 1777.
Fun Facts
The original 1777 flag was designed to represent the 13 original colonies. It had 13 white stars on a blue field and 13 alternating red and white stripes.
One of the first flag designs had the stars arranged in a circle, based on the idea that all colonies were equal.
In 1818, after a few design changes, the United States Congress decided to retain the flag’s original 13 stripes and add new stars to reflect each new state that entered the union.
Each time a state was added to the union, a star was added. Today, there are 50 stars, one for each state in the union, but the 13 stripes remain.
Let us Pray for Our Nation
Pray for your leaders, as well as the judges in our courts. Ask God to grant them wisdom to act with integrity.
(I Kings 3:28; I Timothy2:1-2; Exodus 18:21; Proverbs 11:3;Romans 13:1-2)
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