FLAG DAY

“The red and white and starry blue – is freedom’s shield and hope.” quote by John Philip Sousa, a composer and orchestra director.

Flags have fascinated me for as long as I can remember. When we moved to Chicago, our narrow Italianate house gave me the perfect opportunity to showcase that interest. The house was only twenty-four feet wide, with three symmetrical windows on the second floor. It started on the Fourth of July. I tucked small flags into the window boxes and filled them with full red, white and blue flowers. Later I installed a flag pole holders between the windows. For flag day, the fourth of July and other patriotic holidays, the centerpiece was a huge American flag my mother gave me, the one that draped my grandfather’s coffin. He was a veteran. Through out the year I flew different flags that represented different holidays.

That first flag day, I was off and running. I decorated for everything. Rain or shine the windows had something new. Rubber ducks for spring, with little umbrellas in the flower boxes. Halloween, Mother’s Day, Fathers Day, Thanksgiving, Valentines Day, Xmas, name it and I had a flag to celebrate it. What began as a simple love of decorating with seasonal flags grew into a meaningful tradition that connects me to history, community and family. Because Flag Day is more than just a date on the calendar.

I turned my love of decorating and costuming into a niche. Presenting myself as Betsy Ross to tell the story of the creation of the American Flag to children in elementary school. I even played ” The Star Spangled Banner” on my violin.

Entering the classroom in full period costume:

“Good morning Children. My name is Betsy Ross. I wasn’t famous during my lifetime. It was my grandson, William Canby, who brought my story to public attention over 100 years later. I was 24 years old in 1776 when when George Washington, Robert Morris and George Ross, (my late husband’s uncle), came to the upholstery store where I worked and asked me to sew their design. At this time in Philadelphia I was known as a seamstress who made flags for the Pennsylvania Navy. The men showed me their flag sketch , which had a six-pointed star, but I convinced them to use a five-pointed star because it was easier for me to cut and sew. The reason they wanted to create a flag was to show unity among the newly formed thirteen colonies and to identify American Ships.”

“I felt the design of the flag was very significant. The thirteen stars represented the original thirteen colonies that became states. The thirteen strips to reiterate those same colonies as a reminder of our beginnings. The circle of stars shows unity, that no colony is above the other. And the colors, well each one tells a story. The Red represents hardiness and valor, reminding us of the courage it took to become free. The White represents purity and innocence, and the hope to be a good and honest nation. And the Blue represent vigilance, perseverance and justice, like the vast sky above us, watching over this new country. So you see there is a lot of symbolism in a flag.” Then. I would play the “The Star Spangle Banner” on my violin, while the class ate the cookies my husband prepared for them.

Now, I am going to set aside the bonnet for a moment, because I want to tell you how we came to celebrate Flag Day itself.

The Flag Act of June 14, 1777, was passed by the Continental Congress to give the Continental Army and Navy a sense of identity and unity, boosting morale in the process. The idea of celebrating Flag Day began in the late 1800s, by a school teacher named Bernard J. Cigrand. He organized a Flag Day celebration in his school in Wisconsin. In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation to celebrate Flag Day, but it wasn’t until 1949 when President Harry Truman signed an act of Congress that designated June 14th the official day to honor our flag. The American flag is commonly referred to as the American Flag, Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, the Red, White, and Blue, and The Star Spangled Banner.

From my Chicago window boxes to a colonial bonnet in an elementary school classroom, flags have woven through my life. My grandfather’s flag taught me sacrifice. Betsy Ross taught me ingenuity. And Flag Day reminds me every June 14th that the Starts and Stripes isn’t just fabric. It’s a story of courage, unity, and hope. Because a flag isn’t just something we inherit. It’s something we should live up to.