[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 112 (Monday, June 11, 2001)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 31367-31368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-14854]



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Part V





The President





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Proclamation 7447--Flag Day and National Flag Week, 2001
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  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 112 / Monday, June 11, 2001 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 31367]]

                Proclamation 7447 of June 6, 2001

                
Flag Day and National Flag Week, 2001

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                On June 14, 2001, Americans will observe the 224th 
                birthday of the flag of the United States of America. 
                This special day provides a time for our Nation to 
                reflect on our flag's rich history and its meaning to 
                Americans and people around the world.

                The Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes 
                as the official flag of our young republic on June 14, 
                1777. Describing the new flag, the Congress wrote, 
                ``White signifies Purity and Innocence; Red, Hardiness 
                and Valor; Blue signifies Vigilance, Perseverance and 
                Justice.'' Over time, the flag's design evolved to keep 
                pace with our Nation's development and growth, but its 
                meaning as a symbol of democracy and freedom has 
                remained constant.

                Flag Day was first celebrated throughout the country in 
                1877 to mark the centennial of the birth of our 
                national symbol. As so often happens in our 
                communities, a caring teacher encouraging students to 
                develop a love for learning sparked renewed interest in 
                the flag. Wisconsin schoolteacher B.J. Cigrand arranged 
                for his pupils in 1885 to observe the 108th anniversary 
                of the flag's official adoption.

                In magazine and newspaper articles and public addresses 
                in the following years, Cigrand promoted an official 
                national celebration of June 14 as ``Flag Birthday'' or 
                ``Flag Day.'' Groups in Pennsylvania, New York, and 
                Illinois took up the cause. After three decades of 
                State and local celebrations, President Woodrow Wilson 
                officially established Flag Day by proclamation in 
                1916.

                During the darkest hours of World War II, Americans 
                looked to the purity, hardiness, valor, vigilance, 
                perseverance, and justice represented by the flag as 
                ideals worthy of the ultimate sacrifice in order to 
                defeat tyranny. In celebration of the flag's powerful 
                meaning to Americans and its place in our culture and 
                history, Flag Day became a national observance by Act 
                of Congress in 1949 and was signed into law by 
                President Harry Truman.

                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 a national observance and for 
                the display of the flag of the United States on all 
                Federal Government buildings. In a second joint 
                resolution approved June 9, 1966 (80 Stat. 194), the 
                Congress requested the President to also issue annually 
                a proclamation designating the week during which June 
                14 falls as ``National Flag Week'' and called upon all 
                citizens of the United States to display the flag 
                during that week.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim June 14, 2001, as Flag Day 
                and the week beginning June 10, 2001, as National Flag 
                Week. I direct the appropriate officials to display the 
                flag of the United States on all Federal Government 
                buildings during the week. I also call upon the people 
                of the United States to observe with pride and all due 
                ceremony those

[[Page 31368]]

                days from Flag Day through Independence Day, also set 
                aside by the Congress (89 Stat. 211), as a time to 
                honor America, to celebrate our heritage in public 
                gatherings and activities, and to recite publicly the 
                Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States 
                of America.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand 
                one, and of the Independence of the United States of 
                America the two hundred and twenty-fifth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

[FR Doc. 01-14854
Filed 6-8-01; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P