Flag Day was installed as a national holiday by Woodrow Wilson 100 years ago as a celebration in remembrance of the First Flag Resolution of June 14, 1777 by the Continental Congress. It signified the flag should be "13 stripes alternate red and white: that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."
June 14 also serves as the birthday of the U.S. Army, which was founded 241 years ago on this date. Since it is not totally known whether or not Betsy Ross sewed the first flag, but we do know that the nickname "Old Glory" came from William Driver, a sea captain from Massachusetts whose personal 10 x 17 flag survived multiple Rebel attempts to deface it during the Civil War.
Another famous flag is the one that survived the British shelling of Fort McHenry in Baltimore back in 1814, and inspired Francis Scott Key to write the "Star Spangled Banner," which would become our national anthem in 1931. According to PBS, the National Museum of American History has undertaken a long-term preservation project of that very flag.
And, in case you wanted to fly your very own version of the "Stars & Stripes" you might not be aware of the proper etiquette concerning that action, but Military.com has you covered. Flag Etiquette, according to Military.com.
When displaying the flag, do the following:
- Display the U.S. flag from sunrise to sunset on buildings and stationary flagstaffs in the open. If displayed at night the flag should be property illuminated.
- The U.S. Flag should be placed above all others if multiple flags are on the same staff.
- When flags are displayed in a row, the U.S. flag goes to the observer's left. Flags of other nations are flown at same height. State and local flags are traditionally flown lower.
- When used during a marching ceremony or parade with other flags, the U.S. Flag will be to the observer's left.
- When flown at half-staff, should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day. By "half-staff" is meant lowering the flag to one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the staff.
- When the flag is displayed over the middle of the street, it should be suspended vertically with the union (blue field of stars) to the north in an east and west street or to the east in a north and south street.
- When placed on a Podium the flag should be placed on the speaker's right or the staging area. Other flags should be placed to the left.
- When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall (or other flat surface), the union (blue field of stars) should be uppermost and to the flag's own right, that is, to the observer's left.