[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 74 (Wednesday, June 14, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5083-S5084]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             FLAG DAY 2000

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, today is the 223rd anniversary of the 
adoption, by the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia, of a 
resolution establishing a new symbol for the new nation that was then 
in its birth throes. The resolution, passed on June 14, 1777, was a 
model of simplicity, specifying only ``that the flag be 13 stripes 
alternate red and white; that the union be 13 stars, white in a blue 
field, representing a new constellation.'' Although the flag reputedly 
stitched by Betsy Ross arranged the stars in a full circle, other 
versions of this first flag placed the stars in a half circle or in 
rows, as the resolution did not state how the new constellation was to 
be configured.
  This first flag, like the Constitution to follow it in 1787, was not 
entirely new, but rather predicated on flags that had come before it. 
An English flag, known as the Red Ensign, flew over the thirteen 
colonies from 1707 until the Revolution. The body of this flag was red, 
with a Union Jack design in the upper left corner composed of the 
combined red-on-white Cross of St. George, patron of England, and the 
white-on-blue diagonal cross of St. Andrew, patron of Scotland. The Red 
Ensign was the merchant flag of England, reinforcing for the colonists 
and their status as an unequal and lesser partner in their relationship 
with Mother England.
  The Grand Union flag that first succeeded the Red Ensign was raised 
on January 1, 1776, approximately a year after the American Revolution 
had begun, over George Washington's headquarters in the outskirts of 
Boston. The Grand Union flag retained the Union Jack in the upper left 
corner, but the solid red body of the English trade flag was now broken 
by six white stripes. However, the stripes alone did not represent 
enough of a separation from England, and, a year later, the patron 
saints of England and Scotland were removed from the flag, to be 
replaced by the ``new constellation,'' more representative of the new 
nation which was then decisively vying for freedom.
  In the ensuing years, stars and stripes were added to the flag, 
reflecting the growth of the young nation. The flag flying over Fort 
McHenry during the naval bombardment of September 13 and 14, 1814, that 
inspired Francis Scott Key to compose the immortal words that became 
our national anthem, contained fifteen stars and fifteen stripes. By 
1818, the number of stars had climbed to twenty, while the number of 
stripes had shrunk back to the more manageable thirteen. On April 4, 
1818, Congress adopted another resolution to specify that the number of 
stripes on the flag would forever remain at thirteen, representing the 
original thirteen colonies, while a star would be added to the flag for 
each new state to join the union.
  Henry Ward Beecher once said:

       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, the history which 
     belongs to the Nation that sets if forth.

  Certainly, knowing the history and evolution of the American flag 
from the Red Ensign, through the Grand Union flag, to the Stars and 
Stripes,

[[Page S5084]]

one can see clearly into the early history of our nation. The symbolism 
of the flag also echoes the principles of our government, with each 
state represented by its own star in the constellation, equal to all 
the other stars, and each one a vital part of the constellation as a 
whole.
  I think that it is also reflective of our nation of free people that 
the idea for Flag Day arose, not from a Governmental decree, but from 
the people. The idea of an annual day to celebrate the Flag is believed 
to have originated in 1885, when B.J. Cigrand, a school teacher from 
Fredonia, WI, arranged for pupils of Fredonia's Public School District 
6 to celebrate June 14 as ``Flag Birthday.'' Over the following years, 
Mr. Cigrand advocated the observance of June 14 as ``Flag Birthday'' or 
``Flag Day'' in magazine and newspaper articles, as well as public 
addresses.
  In 1889, George Balach, a kindergarten teacher in New York City, 
planned Flag Day ceremonies for the children in his school. His idea of 
observing Flag Day was subsequently adopted by the State Board of 
Education of New York. In 1891, the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia 
held a Flag Day celebration, and in 1892, the New York Society of the 
Sons of the Revolution held similar festivities.
  The Sons of the Revolution in Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania 
Society of Colonial Dames of America, further encouraged the widespread 
adoption of Flag Day, and on June 14, 1893, in Independence Square in 
Philadelphia, Flag Day exercises were conducted for Philadelphia public 
school children. The following year, the Governor of New York directed 
that American flags be flown on all public buildings on June 14, while 
in Chicago, more than 300,000 children participated in that city's 
first Flag Day celebration.
  On May 30, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson established by proclamation 
the first official Federal Flag Day on June 14. On August 3, 1949, 
President Harry S Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14 
of each year as National Flag Day.
  So now, thanks to the inspiration of a pair of elementary school 
teachers who had the vision to bring to life a vivid bit of history for 
their young students, we are reminded to look out our windows for a 
bright bit of cloth floating on the breeze, and to recall the struggle 
that created it, and the great country which it represents so ably and 
so proudly. There is just nothing like it, nothing like the Stars and 
Stripes. For in that couple of yards of fabric, we can see the origin 
of our Nation, its beginnings. We can see the bit of British history 
that we all share, whether or not any English blood actually flows in 
our veins. It is in the very shape of our flag, with its red field 
split by white stripes of separation, in the white stars on a blue 
field supplanting the British crosses. We can sense the oppression of 
that unequal partnership. We can feel the frustration of being a 
subject colony in those white stripes that separate and break up the 
red field of the British trade flag. And, we can sense the purpose and 
optimism of the new nation, so eloquently portrayed by the ``new 
constellation'' of white stars against a deep blue sky.
  I am proud to follow in the footsteps of B.J. Cigrand and George 
Balach, and pay homage to this anniversary date. I hope that my 
colleagues and those who are listening and watching through those 
electronic eyes, might offer their own salutes to the flag today, and 
resolve to celebrate today or future Flag Days by unfurling their own 
flags and flying them proudly. In my own house, over in McLean, I fly 
the flag when I am there and can watch the flag and take it down if 
raindrops start to fall. I hope that more Americans, and more American 
children, might be inspired by the sight of that flag and might do 
likewise, and that they might learn the history of their flag, and 
learn to honor and cherish and respect it, on Flag Day and every day.
  I close with the stirring words of Henry Holcomb Bennett, who wrote 
``The Flag Goes By:''

       Hats off!
       Along the street there comes
       A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,
       A flash of color beneath the sky:
       Hats off!
       The flag is passing by!

       Blue and crimson and white it shines,
       Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines.
       Hats off!
       The colors before us fly;
       But more than the flag is passing by:

       Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great,
       Fought to make and to save the State;
       Weary marches and sinking ships;
       Cheers of victory on dying lips:

       Days of plenty and years of peace;
       March of a strong land's swift increase;
       Equal justice, right and law,
       Stately honor and reverend awe;

       Sign of a nation great and strong
       To ward her people from foreign wrong:
       Pride and glory and honor, all
       Live in the colors to stand or fall.

       Hats off!
       Along the street there comes
       A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums;
       And loyal hearts are beating high:
       Hats off!
       The flag is passing by!

  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Kansas.

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