On May 30th, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation to establish a national day of observance to honor the national ensign of the United States of America. Though the national annual observance wasn’t signed into law until President Truman did so in 1949, the annual recognition of honoring Old Glory was carried on by many Americans each year since 1916. With all that has transpired in the realm of politics within our nation, I suspect that rather than rendering honor to our flag, many of the people living within our borders will, instead choose to desecrate it…but I digress.

This illustration dates from 1885 and shows the first five flags of the U.S along with the (then) current configuration with 38 stars.

Flag Day (June 14) was set aside to encourage American citizens  to display their nationalism, patriotism and civic pride by hoisting the national ensign on their homes, places of business and on public and government buildings. To put it simply, it is a day in which we show and honor the flag.

The Flag Day observances can be traced all the way back to 1885, when a teacher in a small town in Wisconsin decided that he would honor the flag. The National Flag Day Foundation cites,

Our mission is to carry on the tradition of the first flag day observance. On June 14th, 1885, Bernard J. Cigrand, a 19 year old teacher at Stony Hill School (located in Fredonia, WS), placed a 10 inch, 38- star flag in a bottle on his desk then assigned essays on the flag and its significance.

What is the significance of June 14 and why did Cigrand choose that date for recognition and rendering honors to the flag? In 1777, the second Continental Congress passed a resolution that stated,

Resolved, That the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.

There is significant debate as to who is credited for designing and creating that first flag of the United States–none of which I will discuss here, leaving it for you to make your own determination. Meanwhile, if you reside within a tolerable driving distance from the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia, you can take part in the final events of Flag Fest which concludes tomorrow, June 17, 2017.

For those seeking WWI or WWII period flags, 48 star flags are readily available in either vintage or excellent, weather-proof reproductions.

This week (as we do for each patriotic holiday) we are flying the Stars and Stripes in front of my home. Though we are consistent in honoring our current flag (thirteen stripes of alternating red and white; fifty stars, white in a blue field), I have considered acquiring and hoisting some of the historic iterations in its place.

Even if I could afford to purchase an antique iteration of the flag, obviously, I’d never run it up the staff, subjecting it to the elements thereby inflicting rapid deterioration and damage to the delicate fibers and stitching. Instead, locating high-quality reproductions (nylon, sewn and two-sided construction) of those historic colors that could stand up to the forces of nature are more reasonable and would afford me the opportunity to publicly display an area of my collecting interest.

This is a reproduction guidon for “I” company of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry, 70th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers (known as “Rush’s Lancers”) is similar to the one I just ordered for my collection (source: eBay photo).

One of my most recent flag acquisitions is a hand-sewn reproduction of the regimental guidon of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry (“F” company), the unit in which my 3-times-great grandfather served during the Civil War.  I would love to have a period-correct original for my collection, but even if I had the financial resources, sourcing something with such rarity is next to impossible.

Happy 240th to Old Glory!