Flag Day

The “Stars and Stripes” was  designated the national symbol of the United States of America by  congress on June 14, 1777-the fifth item on that day's agenda.  It was  resolved in the Journal of the Continental Congress “that the flag of  the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes alternate red and white:  that the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a  new constellation.”  In 1885, a school teacher named Bernard J. Cigrand  encouraged his students to reflect on the real meaning and majesty of  this symbol.