[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 24 (Monday, June 19, 1995)]
[Pages 1013-1014]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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Proclamation 6808--Flag Day and National Flag Week, 1995

June 9, 1995

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    This week, Americans celebrate the Flag of the United States, which 
for more than two centuries has brought our people together in a common 
bond of citizenship. We reaffirm our allegiance to freedom's banner--
``Old Glory''--and to the proud history it has inspired. We honor the 
valor and sacrifices of all who have defended it--in public service and 
on battlegrounds around the world. And we rededicate ourselves to the 
democratic ideals stitched forever into the fabric of America.
    In towns and cities across the country, public buildings fly the 
Stars and Stripes as a symbol of our Nation's spirit of community. That 
spirit was never more evident than this past April in Oklahoma, where 
the flag appeared on the sleeves of rescue workers, emergency personnel, 
and volunteers from throughout the land. A shining badge of honor, it 
reminded all who mourned that we Americans have seen countless trials 
and have emerged from each one stronger than ever.
    Earlier this year, in expressing our gratitude to the men and women 
who served in uniform during the Second World War, the Nation observed 
the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima. We recalled the day, 
immortalized in sculpture, when a team of brave Americans beat all odds 
and hoisted aloft the American flag. May we, the heirs of the freedom 
they fought to defend, always remember their courage and serve as loyal 
standard-bearers for the cause of liberty.
    To commemorate the adoption of our flag, the Congress, by a 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 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 occurs as ``National Flag Week,'' and calling upon all 
citizens of the United States to display the flag during that week.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim June 14, 1995, as Flag Day and the 
week beginning June 11, 1995, as National Flag Week. I direct the 
appropriate officials of the Government to display the Flag of the 
United States on all Government buildings during that week. I urge 
Americans to observe Flag Day, June 14, and Flag Week by flying the 
Stars and Stripes from their homes and other suitable places.
    I also call upon the American people 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 and 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 ninth day of 
June, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-five, and of 
the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
nineteenth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 3:12 p.m., June 12, 
1995]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on June 
14. This item was not received in time for publication in the 
appropriate issue.

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