[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 116 (Friday, June 15, 2012)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 35807-35808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-14743]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 116 / Friday, June 15, 2012 / 
Presidential Documents  

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[[Page 35807]]


                Proclamation 8837 of June 11, 2012

                
Flag Day and National Flag Week, 2012

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Ninety-six years ago, our Nation first came together to 
                celebrate Flag Day--an occasion when President Woodrow 
                Wilson asked us to ``stand with united hearts for an 
                America which no man can corrupt, no influence draw 
                away from its ideals, no force divide against itself.'' 
                This week, we mark nearly one century since that 
                historic proclamation, and more than two centuries 
                since the Second Continental Congress brought 13 United 
                States under a single standard.

                For over 200 years, our flag has proudly represented 
                our Nation and our ideals at home and abroad. It has 
                billowed above monuments and memorials, flown beside 
                the halls of government, stood watch over our oldest 
                institutions, and graced our homes and storefronts. 
                Generations of service members have raised our 
                country's colors over military bases and at sea, and 
                generations of Americans have lowered them to mourn 
                those we have lost. Though our flag has changed to 
                reflect the growth of our Republic, it will forever 
                remain an emblem of the ideals that inspired our great 
                Nation: liberty, democracy, and the enduring freedom to 
                make of our lives what we will.

                As we reflect on our heritage, let us remember that our 
                destiny is stitched together like those 50 stars and 13 
                stripes. In red, white, and blue, we see the spirit of 
                a Nation, the resilience of our Union, and the promise 
                of a future forged in common purpose and dedication to 
                the principles that have always kept America strong.

                To commemorate the adoption of our flag, the Congress, 
                by joint resolution approved August 3, 1949, as amended 
                (63 Stat. 492), designated June 14 of each year as 
                ``Flag Day'' and requested that the President 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, by joint resolution approved June 9, 1966, 
                as amended (80 Stat. 194), that the President annually 
                issue a proclamation designating the week in which June 
                14 occurs as ``National Flag Week'' and call upon 
                citizens of the United States to display the flag 
                during that week.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 14, 
                2012, as Flag Day and the week beginning June 10, 2012, 
                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 displaying 
                the flag. 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 America, 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.

[[Page 35808]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2012-14743
Filed 6-14-12; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F2-P