Flag Day is today, June 14, 2023. Sometimes we wonder why we have a holiday honoring our flag, and what the history behind it is; here are some of those answers.
History
Back near the beginning of the American War for Independence, the colonists did not fight together. Hoping to get more organized and win the war, the Second Continental Congress met and made a continental army. That led to a flag being made. Originally, it was too close to the British flag. After the slight change, it had 13 white and red alternating stripes with a a corner of stars with a blue background.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson established June 14th as Flag Day. Ever since then, we honor and celebrate Old Glory on June 16th.
Fun Facts
In 1885, a schoolteacher by the name of Bernard Cigrand advocated a day to celebrate the flag. [1] His promoting it helped June 14th to officially become Flag Day.
Anthem
Our National Anthem comes from when Sir Francis Scott Key was on a British ship watching the American Fort McHenry get bombed through the night. When the sun came up and the flag was still there, Key wrote the poem about the night and how the flag was still standing.
