The Story Behind Flag Day
“Oh, say can you see . . . by the
dawn’s early light . . . ”
We’ve just celebrated the Fourth of July . . . and—America’s independence and freedom. It seems only fitting that celebrations of the Fourth and Memorial Day should be fairly close together. We owe this freedom that we have here in America to the men and women who fought for it, beginning many, many years ago with George Washington and the Revolutionary War. Many of those individuals gave their lives. Remembering is what these two celebrations is all about.
Another national holiday that fits right in with Memorial Day and the Fourth of July is—Flag Day. Flag Day falls on June 14, and was first officially observed in 1877 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the selection of the flag. Eight years later, a school teacher in Waubeka, Wisconsin began a lifelong quest to make Flag Day an annual celebration; and then, in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation, and Flag Day became official.
Today, some refuse to honor the flag, or refuse to stand for our national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Perhaps those individuals do not know the history . . .
During the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key, a Washington lawyer, received permission from President James Madison to seek the release of a friend who had been captured by the British. Later, aboard a prisoner-exchange boat that was being held in temporary custody by a British warship in Baltimore harbor, Key watched during the night, with great anxiety, the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British. When morning came, he was so greatly relieved to see that our flag was still there, he wrote a poem about it. (The opening words mark the beginning of this article.) That poem became our national anthem.
We, as Americans, owe so much to those individuals who made celebrating these special days possible. We also owe a debt of gratitude to those writers who felt the need to write it all down, and keep a record of our history . . . So that we, too, might know.
Grace and peace to you,
Mary Emma