Raise Those Banners High: How and Why We Revere the Stars and Stripes

Old Glory has been a symbol of hope and unity for Americans throughout history.

A print of “The Birth of Old Glory,” 1917, after a painting by Edward Percy Moran. Betsy Ross, who is credited with sewing the first United States flag, is depicted (left center) showing the flag to George Washington. Library of Congress. Public Domain

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress declared “that the Flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation.” Influenced by the growing number of celebrations of that date around the country, in 1916 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 a national Flag Day.

The real credit for Flag Day, however, goes to a Waubeka, Wisconsin, schoolteacher—Bernard J. Cigrand. Calling June 14 the “flag’s birthday,” in 1885 the 18-year-old Cigrand asked his students at the Stony Hill School to write an essay on what the flag meant to them. From that point on, Cigrand gave more than 2,100 talks to audiences about the flag, its importance, and the need to make June 14 its special day of honor.