[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 87 (Thursday, June 11, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S6536]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



  (At the request of Mr. Reid, the following statement was ordered to 
be printed in the Record.)

                                FLAG DAY

 Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, our flag is the most recognizable 
symbol of the United States, an instant wordless message freighted with 
history and meaning. The Stars and Stripes is much more than a war 
banner. Each flag carries visions of smoke-clouded battles, to be sure, 
but also visions of brave explorers venturing into new lands, 
astronauts landing on the moon, athletes celebrating Olympic victories, 
and of coffins carried on somber caissons to a final honored resting 
place. Old Glory also marks every great American moment, from 
presidential inaugurations that celebrate the peaceful transition of 
power in our democracy to the defiant unfurling of flags over the 
battered ruins of the Pentagon and the Twin Towers.
  June 14 is Flag Day. Although flags fly every day in front of many 
Federal, State and local office buildings every day, and many flags are 
displayed on other holidays such as the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, 
and Veterans Day, only on Flag Day do we honor the flag itself.
  The first national observance of Flag Day was in 1877, though it was 
not until 1949 that President Truman signed into law legislation 
recognizing the anniversary of the adoption, on June 14, 1777, by the 
Continental Congress, of the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of 
the United States.
  In earlier years, much more was done to mark the occasion of Flag 
Day. Schools educated students on the rituals and principles of 
citizenship, and held patriotic programs to honor the flag. These days, 
it is enough to mark the day by flying the flag. I hope that many 
Americans will do so, and do it properly--hoisting the flag up smartly, 
bringing it down reverently, and folding it away again properly. Once 
it is up and flapping in the breeze, take just a moment to admire it, 
or to say the Pledge of Allegiance.
  On June 14, 1777, a congressional committee established the design of 
our flag in a few short words. The record notes simply 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 the years since, the number of 
stars in that constellation has expanded, but the brave ideals that it 
represents--that all men were created equal, endowed by their Creator 
with certain unalienable rights including life, liberty and the pursuit 
of happiness--shine as true today as they have since 1776.
  Our flag is a symbol that goes well beyond the cloth out of which it 
is fashioned. It is America, and long may it wave.
  I close with a favorite poem of mine, by Henry Holcomb Bennett, that 
I like to recite on Flag Day. It never fails to stir my spirits, as I 
hope it does for those listening.

                            The Flag Goes By

                       (By Henry Holcomb Bennett)

     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
     Toward 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!

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