[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 14, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 14, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                COMMEMORATION OF FLAG DAY, JUNE 14, 1994

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, 217 years ago today, the United States 
was engaged in its War for independence. I note that the American 
Continental Army, now the U.S. Army, was established by the Continental 
Congress, just 2 years earlier on June 14, 1775. I express my 
congratulations to the U.S. Army on its 219th birthday.
  At the start of that war, American colonists fought under a variety 
of local flags. The Continental Colors, or Grand Union Flag, was the 
unofficial national flag from 1775-77. This flag had 13 alternating red 
and white stripes, with the English flag in the upper left corner.
  Following the publication of the Declaration of Independence, it was 
no longer appropriate to fly a banner containing the British flag. 
Accordingly, on June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed a 
resolution that ``the Flag of the United States be 13 stripes alternate 
red and white, and the Union be 13 stars white in a blue field 
representing a new constellation.''
  No record exists as to why the Continental Congress adopted the now-
familiar red, white, and blue. A later action by the Congress, convened 
under the Articles of Confederation, may provide an appropriate 
interpretation on the use of these colors. Five years after adopting 
the flag resolution, in 1782, a resolution regarding the Great Seal of 
the United States contained a statement on the meanings of the colors: 
red--for hardiness and courage; white--for purity and innocence; and 
blue--for vigilance, perseverance, and justice.
  The stripes, symbolic of the Thirteen Original Ccolonies, were 
similar to the five red and four white stripes on the flag of the Sons 
of Liberty, an early colonial flag. The stars of the first national 
flag after 1777 were arranged in a variety of patterns. The most 
popular design placed the stars in alternating rows of three or two 
stars. Another flag placed 12 stars in a circle with the 13th star in 
the center. A now popular image of a flag of that day, although it was 
rarely used at the time, placed the 13 stars in a circle.
  Mr. President, as our country has grown, the stars and stripes have 
undergone necessary modifications. Alterations include the addition, 
then deletion, of stripes; and the addition and rearrangement of the 
field of stars.
  While our Star-Spangled Banner has seen changes, the message it 
represents is constant. That message is one of patriotism and respect, 
wherever the flag is found flying. Henry Ward Beecher, a prominent 19th 
century clergyman and lecturer stated:

       A thoughtful mind, when it sees a nation's flag, sees not 
     the flag only, but the nation itself; and whatever may be its 
     symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag the 
     Government, the principles, the truths, and the history which 
     belong to the nation that sets it forth.

  Old Glory represents the land, the people, the Government and the 
ideals of the United States, no matter when or where it is displayed 
throughout the world--in land battle, the first such occurrence being 
August 16, 1777 at the Battle of Bennington; on a U.S. Navy ship, such 
as the Ranger, under the command of John Paul Jones in November 1777; 
or in Antarctica, in 1840, on the pilot boat Flying Fish of the Charles 
Wilkes expedition.
  The flag has proudly represented our Republic beyond the Earth and 
into the heavens. The stirring images of Neil Armstrong and Edwin 
Aldrin saluting the flag on the Moon, on July 20, 1969 moved the Nation 
to new heights of patriotism and national pride.
  Mr. President, today we pause to commemorate our Nation's most clear 
symbol--our flag. An early account of a day of celebration of the flag 
was reported by the Hartford Courant suggested an observance was held 
throughout the State of Connecticut in 1861. The origin of our modern 
Flag Day is often traced to the work of Bernard Cigrand, who in 1885 
held his own observance of the flag's birthday in his one-room 
schoolhouse in Waubeka, WI. This began his decades-long campaign for a 
day of national recognition of the flag. His advocacy for this cause 
was reflected in numerous newspaper articles, books, magazines and 
lectures of the day. His celebrated pamphlet on ``Laws and Customs 
Regulating the Use of the Flag of the United States,'' received wide 
distribution.
  His petition to President Woodrow Wilson for a national observance 
was rewarded with a Presidential proclamation designating June 14, 1916 
as Flag Day. On a prior occasion President Wilson noted:

       Things that the flag stands for were created by the 
     experience 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. It represents the experiences 
     made by men and women, the experiences of those who do and 
     live under the flag.

  Mr. President, it is appropriate that we pause today, on this Flag 
Day, to render our respect and honor to the symbol of our Nation, and 
to review our commitment to the underlying principles it represents. 
Today, let us reflect on the deeds and sacrifices of those who have 
gone before and the legacy they left to us. Let us ponder our own 
endeavors and the inheritance we will leave to future generations.
  Finally, as we commemorate the heritage our flag represents, may we 
as a nation pledge not only our allegiance, but also our efforts to 
furthering the standards represented by its colors--courage, virtue, 
perseverance, and justice. Through these universal concepts, We the 
People can ensure better lives for ourselves and our children, for 
these are the characteristics of greatness. In doing so, we can move 
closer to the goal so well stated by Daniel Webster at the laying of 
the cornerstone of the Bunker Hill Monument on June 17, 1825. On that 
occasion he said:

       Let our object be our country, our whole country, and 
     nothing but our country. And, by the blessing of God, may 
     that country itself become a vast and splendid monument, not 
     of oppression and terror, but of Wisdom, of Peace, and of 
     Liberty, upon which the world may gaze with admiration 
     forever.

  Mr. President, today I encourage my colleagues and all Americans to 
take note of the history and meaning of this 14th day of June. We 
celebrate our flag, observing its 217th birthday, and the 219-year-old 
Army which has so proudly and valiantly defended it and our great 
Nation.
  I yield the floor, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut [Mr. Lieberman] 
is recognized.
  Mr. LIEBERMAN. I thank the Chair.

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