{"id":702084,"date":"2026-06-13T17:45:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T17:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/702084\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T17:45:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T17:45:17","slug":"stars-and-stripes-forever-appreciate-the-national-symbol-of-the-united-states-flag-for-flag-day-news-sports-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/702084\/","title":{"rendered":"Stars and Stripes forever: Appreciate the national symbol of the United States flag for Flag Day | News, Sports, Jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The West Bountiful Third Ward #42 walks along carrying a large American flag during the Independence Day Parade in West Bountiful on Saturday, July 2, 2016.<\/p>\n

BRIANA SCROGGINS\/Standard-Examiner<\/p>\n

2 \/ 8<\/p>\n

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Hazel Johnson, 5, of Lehi, runs among American flags at the 18th annual Healing Field in Sandy on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, before a service to commemorate those who lost their lives during the terrorist attacks of 9\/11. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald<\/p>\n

Isaac Hale Daily Herald<\/p>\n

3 \/ 8<\/p>\n

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A large American flag is draped over the side of the\u00a0Francom Public Safety Center\u00a0in Ogden on Friday, May 29, 2020.\u00a0A ceremony was held to honor the life and service of officer Nate Lyday, who was killed Thursday\u00a0while responding to a domestic violence call.<\/p>\n

BEN DORGER, Standard-Examiner<\/p>\n

4 \/ 8<\/p>\n

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American Flags fly at the Barker Park Amphitheater in North Ogden on Veterans Day, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018.<\/p>\n

BEN DORGER, Standard-Examiner file photo<\/p>\n

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American flags sit outside Ogden Regional Medical Center. <\/p>\n

Jamie Lampros, Special to the Standard-Examiner<\/p>\n

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Paratrooper Mike Semanoff guides the American flag to a safe landing inside the arena during the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo in Ogden on Saturday, July 20, 2024.<\/p>\n

Brian Nicholson, Special to the Standard-Examiner<\/p>\n

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Students from Layton and Weber dress the field with the American flag before kickoff of a region football game on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Pleasant View.<\/p>\n

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner<\/p>\n

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Runners exit Ogden Canyon under a large American flag during the 25th Ogden Marathon on Saturday, May 16, 2026.<\/p>\n

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner<\/p>\n

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The West Bountiful Third Ward #42 walks along carrying a large American flag during the Independence Day Parade in West Bountiful on Saturday, July 2, 2016.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hazel Johnson, 5, of Lehi, runs among American flags at the 18th annual Healing Field in Sandy on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, before a service to commemorate those who lost their lives during the terrorist attacks of 9\/11. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A large American flag is draped over the side of the\u00a0Francom Public Safety Center\u00a0in Ogden on Friday, May 29, 2020.\u00a0A ceremony was held to honor the life and service of officer Nate Lyday, who was killed Thursday\u00a0while responding to a domestic violence call.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tAmerican Flags fly at the Barker Park Amphitheater in North Ogden on Veterans Day, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tAmerican flags sit outside Ogden Regional Medical Center. <\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\tParatrooper Mike Semanoff guides the American flag to a safe landing inside the arena during the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo in Ogden on Saturday, July 20, 2024.
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\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tStudents from Layton and Weber dress the field with the American flag before kickoff of a region football game on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Pleasant View.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\tRunners exit Ogden Canyon under a large American flag during the 25th Ogden Marathon on Saturday, May 16, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Just about anywhere you go in the United States, you\u2019ll see one of its most common symbols: The American flag.<\/p>\n

Iterations of the flag wave from flag poles in front of buildings, from stands on houses, honoring veterans at cemeteries and countless other locations. Images of it are used in product marketing, apparel design and \u2014 naturally \u2014 as part of political campaigns.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s so prevalent that many may not even stop to think about it.<\/p>\n

But every year on June 14 the nation takes a moment to honor that symbol, which will be 249 years old in 2026.<\/p>\n

Here is a look at some of the history that led to the creation of the US flag, the efforts that resulted in it getting its own holiday and some of the tributes to it that may remind us of its value.<\/p>\n

The history of flags<\/p>\n

People having been using flag-like identifiers for thousands of years.<\/p>\n

According to a 2024 article on Flagco.com<\/a> by Tracy Crawford, flags and their equivalents are \u201cone of the oldest forms of human communication.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLong before written language was widespread, people used colored cloth, carved standards, and painted symbols to identify their group, rally their forces, and declare what they stood for,\u201d Crawford said. \u201cThe history of flags stretches back thousands of years, and the reasons people fly them today are not so different from the reasons they first appeared.\u201d<\/p>\n

The article talks about how early forms of flags included the carved symbols mounted on poles used by Ancient Egyptians and the use of vexillum, a rectangular cloth banner hung from a crossbar, by the Roman legions.<\/p>\n

Those early forms evolved in medieval times, according to Crawford, as families developed unique coats of arms to display.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a battlefield where everyone wore similar armor, these heraldic flags were the only reliable way to tell friend from enemy,\u201d Crawford said.<\/p>\n

Eventually flags become associated with central governments, leading to the common forms of flags established by countries and states.<\/p>\n

The creation of a flag for the new United States of America<\/p>\n

The National Flag Foundation and the PBS.org page on the history of the American flag both note that the establishment of the flag that is now so familiar wasn\u2019t something that happened with a lot of fanfare at the time.<\/p>\n

The foundation describes it on its website<\/a> by saying: \u201cOn June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed a short but momentous resolution: \u2018Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.\u2019 There was no ceremony, no fanfare, no holiday. Just a young country, at war, deciding what it would fly.\u201d<\/p>\n

PBS.org<\/a> notes that origin of the first American flag is unknown, although some \u201cbelieve it was designed by New Jersey Congressman Francis Hopkinson and sewn by Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also says that \u201cBetween 1777 and 1960 Congress passed several acts that changed the shape, design and arrangement of the flag and allowed stars and stripes to be added to reflect the admission of each new state.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the last 249 years, the flag has added and subtracted stripes and added dozens of stars, resulting in the format that is so familiar today. It\u2019s last change came in 1960 after the admission of Hawaii as the 50th state.<\/p>\n

Celebrating the flag with its own holiday<\/p>\n

Various states and communities had small local celebrations of the flag, but it wasn\u2019t until 1885 that momentum built to honor the historical significance of the symbol with its own special day.<\/p>\n

The National Flag Foundation said that \u201cin 1885, Bernard J. Cigrand, a young schoolteacher in Wisconsin, asked his students to observe what he called the flag\u2019s \u201cbirthday.\u201d He had them write essays on what the Stars and Stripes meant to them. It was a small gesture in a one-room schoolhouse, but Cigrand spent the rest of his life expanding it. He wrote articles, gave speeches, and pressed anyone who would listen to set aside a day for the flag. History remembers him as the Father of Flag Day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cigrand\u2019s efforts expanded the celebration to other locations across the country and the foundation described how, in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson \u201cissued a proclamation officially establishing June 14 as Flag Day across the country. For the first time, the anniversary had the weight of the presidency behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until 1949, however, that it went from an observance to an official holiday when President Harry S. Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14 as National Flag Day.<\/p>\n

The foundation also described how Flag Day is different than many other holidays, saying: \u201cHere is the detail that surprises many people: Flag Day is not a federal public holiday. Banks stay open and the mail still runs. It is a day of recognition, not a day off. In a way, that suits it. Flag Day asks nothing of us except attention. It invites every American to step outside, raise the colors, and remember that the symbol overhead is older than almost anything else we share.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tributes to the flag<\/p>\n

Many have honored the symbol of the US flag in poems, songs and performances.<\/p>\n

The most well-known is likely Francis Scott Key\u2019s poem that became the country\u2019s national anthem, \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner.\u201d<\/p>\n

While almost every American knows the first stanza by heart, fewer know that Key actually wrote four stanzas for his work. He concluded the poem by saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cThen conquer we must, for our cause it is just.<\/p>\n

And this be our motto\u2013 \u2018In God is our trust;\u2019<\/p>\n

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave<\/p>\n

O\u2019er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other songs also have showcased the imagery of the flag, including \u201cYou\u2019re a Grand Old Flag\u201d and \u201cAmerica the Beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Popular music has added other renditions the have included the flag, from the complexity of Bruce Springsteen\u2019s \u201cBorn in the USA\u201d to Toby Keith\u2019s fired-up 9\/11 response \u201cCourtesy of the Red, White and Blue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnny Cash used the flag to talk about what the country means to some in the song, \u201cRagged Old Flag,\u201d which ends by saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we raise her up every morning. We take her down every night. We don\u2019t let her touch the ground and we fold her up right. On second thought, I do like to brag, \u2019cause I\u2019m mighty proud of that ragged old flag.\u201d<\/p>\n

One final iconic tribute to mention was the comedic routine done by Robin Williams in the \u201cI Love Liberty\u201d television special in 1982. While he had plenty of his signature humor in the five-minute performance where gives voice to the flag, he also had poignant moments. He concluded by saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t look at it (flying the flag) as saluting me; look at it as saluting yourselves. I\u2019m just a flag, a symbol. You are the people. If I may say from here, long may you wave.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Copyright \u00a9 2026 Ogden Newspapers of Utah, LLC | www.standard.net | 332 Standard Way, Ogden, UT 84404 <\/p>\n

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