[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 24 (Monday, June 15, 1998)]
[Pages 1103-1104]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7105--Flag Day and National Flag Week, 1998

June 12, 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

[[Page 1104]]

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.
    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.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., June 16, 
1998]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
June 17.