Why Is Flag Day Celebrated?

Americans celebrate Flag Day every June 14th by proudly displaying the country’s national emblem on their front porches and yards, lining the city streets with a flag on each light pole, and even going so far as to attach a miniature United States flag to their car antennas in some cases.

Flag Day is celebrated not only to show pride in the country and maintain morale, as many people would believe. Flag Day is a nationwide celebration of the United States’ adoption of the flag as the emblematic symbol for independence.

The reason Flag Day is celebrated on June 14th is because it marks the day in the year 1777 that the Second Continental Congress declared the importance of the flag nationally, making the American Flag the symbol for the United States.

Annual Federal Approval of Flag Day

Flag Day has been a state holiday for Pennsylvania, the only state to recognize the day as protected by statute, since 1937. However, recognition of the holiday for many other areas came more slowly, and, as of 2011, Flag Day is still not an automatically celebrated, federally-protected holiday.

President Woodrow Wilson did officially proclaim June 14th to be Flag Day in the year 1916, but the legal establishment of the holiday didn’t take place until Congress passed an act in 1949 declaring it as one. However, this act still didn’t federally recognize the date as a holiday. According to federal statute, the decision to recognize and celebrate Flag Day is a yearly decision made by the current President. 

Flag Day Traditions and Celebrations

Even though United States Congress didn’t pass the act declaring June 14th to be Flag Day until almost 1950, there are communities around the country that have long-standing traditions dating back to the 1930s. This long tradition of honoring the flag helps to explain why we celebrate Flag Day.

• The first noted observance of the day the flag was cited as a national symbol took place in a small rural school in the settlement of Waubeka, Wisconsin in the year 1885. The recognition of the day was incited by school teacher Bernard J. Cigrand, who taught at Stony Hill School, which still stands, bearing his bust as a memorial.
• The longest-running celebration in honor of Flag Day is held in Fairfield, Washington, which has held a celebration, including a parade, each year since it began observing Flag Day in 1909.
• Rennerdale, Pennsylvania has observed Flag Day and celebrated the national symbol of freedom every year since 1937,
• Both Appleton, Wisconsin and Quincy, Massachusetts have held yearly celebrations in their communities since the early 1950s.
• Perhaps the largest and most recognized celebration in any community in the United States, however, takes place every year in Troy, New York. This Flag Day celebration draws over 55,000 people to the community every year for the parade celebration alone.

So, now you know why Flag Day is celebrated, as well as a bit about the tradition of flag day in various states across the US.