[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 116 (Wednesday, June 17, 1998)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 33229-33230]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-16277]
[[Page 33227]]
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Part VI
The President
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Proclamation 7105--Flag Day and National Flag Week, 1998
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 116 / Wednesday, June 17, 1998 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 33229]]
Proclamation 7105 of June 12, 1998
Flag Day and National Flag Week, 1998
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Our country has undergone enormous change since the
Continental Congress first adopted the Stars and
Stripes as the official Flag of the United States of
America in 1777. The new country that struggled for 7
long years to win independence from Great Britain is
today the most powerful Nation on Earth. The 13
original colonies huddled close to the Atlantic coast
of North America have grown into 50 States, stretching
across the continent to the Pacific coast and beyond.
From a population of less than 3 million, we have grown
to more than 269 million people whose differences in
race, religion, cultural traditions, and ethnic
background have made us one of the most diverse
countries in the world.
Throughout these two centuries of remarkable growth and
change, the Stars and Stripes has remained the proud
symbol of our fundamental unity. Across the
generations, our flag has united Americans in the quest
for freedom and peace. Our soldiers first followed it
into battle at Brandywine in 1777, and today our Armed
Forces carry it on peacekeeping and humanitarian
missions around the globe. The American flag
accompanied Lewis and Clark on their historic journey
of exploration in the early 19th century, and last year
Pathfinder carried the image of the Stars and Stripes
to the distant landscape of Mars. In schoolyards, on
public buildings, and displayed on the front porches of
homes across America, our flag is an enduring reminder
of the hopes, dreams, and values we all share as
Americans, and of the sacrifices so many have made to
keep it flying above a Nation that is strong, secure,
and free.
Like America, our flag was fashioned to accommodate
change without altering its fundamental design. The red
and white stripes have remained constant, reminding us
of our roots in the 13 colonies. The white stars on a
field of blue, shifting in pattern as new States have
joined the Union, celebrate our capacity for change.
The challenge we have faced in the past and will
confront in the 21st century is the same challenge
woven into the American flag--to respond creatively to
new possibilities while remaining true to our basic
ideals of freedom, justice, and human dignity. As we
celebrate Flag Day and Flag Week, let us reaffirm our
reverence for the American flag, the bright banner that
has uplifted the hearts and inspired the finest efforts
of Americans for more than 200 years. It has been the
symbol of and companion on our American journey thus
far, and it will continue to lead us as we embrace the
promise of the future.
To commemorate the adoption of our flag, the Congress,
by joint resolution approved August 3, 1949 (63 Stat.
492), designated June 14 of each year as ``Flag Day''
and requested the President to issue an annual
proclamation calling for its observance and for the
display of the Flag of the United States on all Federal
Government buildings. The Congress also requested the
President, by joint resolution approved June 9, 1966
(80 Stat. 194), to issue annually a proclamation
designating the week in which June 14 falls as
``National Flag Week'' and calling upon all citizens of
the United States to display the flag during that week.
[[Page 33230]]
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 14,
1998, as Flag Day and the week beginning June 14, 1998,
as National Flag Week. I direct the appropriate
officials to display the flag on all Federal Government
buildings during that week, and I urge all Americans to
observe Flag Day and National Flag Week by flying the
Stars and Stripes from their homes and other suitable
places.
I also call upon the people of the United States to
observe with pride and all due ceremony those days from
Flag Day through Independence Day, also set aside by
the Congress (89 Stat. 211), as a time to honor our
Nation, to celebrate our heritage in public gatherings
and activities, and to publicly recite the Pledge of
Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord nineteen
hundred and ninety-eight, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the two hundred and
twenty-second.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 98-16277
Filed 6-16-98; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P