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It’s Flag Day 2017– a day that honors the adoption of the flag of the United States of America.
On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress came to a resolution, “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.” The precise origins of the holiday are unclear– according to the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, the first official observance claim came from Hartford, Connecticut, in the 1860s. Perhaps a more notorious claim comes from New York in 1889, when the principal of a kindergarten in NYC held school ceremonies that recognized Flag Day.
Regardless of exactly how it started, Flag Day is a patriotic holiday that pays tribute to red, white, and blue, and all that it stands for. Read on for quotes an saying in honor of the holiday.
1. “You’re the emblem of
The land I love.
The home of the free and the brave.” — George M. Cohan
2. “We identify the flag with almost everything we hold dear on earth, peace, security, liberty, our family, our friends, our home… But when we look at our flag and behold it emblazoned with all our rights we must remember that it is equally a symbol of our duties. Every glory that we associate with it is the result of duty done.” — Calvin Coolidge
3. “The things that the flag stands for were created by the experiences of a great people. Everything that it stands for was written by their lives. The flag is the embodiment, not of sentiment, but of history.” — Woodrow Wilson
4. “America is a tune. It must be sung together.” — Gerald Stanley Lee, Crowds
5. “The cement of this union is the heart-blood of every American.” — Thomas Jefferson
6. “A flag appears ‘mid thunderous cheers,
The banner of the Western land.
The emblem of the brave and true.” — John Philip Sousa
7. “Yet, Freedom! yet the banner, torn, but flying,
Streams like the thunderstorm against the wind!”
8. “As long as I live, I will never forget that day 21 years ago when I raised my hand and took the oath of citizenship. Do you know how proud I was? I was so proud that I walked around with an American flag around my shoulders all day long.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
9. “I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty, and freedom. It is the history of our nation, and it’s marked by the blood of those who died defending it.” – John Thune
10. “This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.” — Theodore Roosevelt