[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
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  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 116 / Wednesday, June 17, 1998 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 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