Flag Day – Giving Respect To Old Glory

Flag Day.  June 14.  It happens every year.  For most, just another day on the calendar.  Nothing spectacular.  Not a federal holiday.  But to those of us who have served under her flying colors, it means more to us. 

I hope by the time you read this and have a moment or two to digest, you will have a better appreciation for our "National Ensign."

I served in the US Navy.  A Quartermaster was my calling.  Navigating the high seas.  But we had other important duties since our main job was at sea.  We were tasked with Honors and Ceremonies.  This is a book on which we had to know in and out.  It dealt with everything and everyone.  The US Flag included.

When to put it up and bring it down.  Half mast or not. Holiday colors or standard.  It was not that we just grabbed the stars and stripes an hoisted it up, we did it with honor and dignity.

Which is why in we set this day aside to honor her.  The Second Contentinal Congress in 1777    created a resoultion to have this day.  They adopted the flag that would represent the soon-to-be United States of America. The red white and blue were borrowed from the British Union Jack, but the stars and stripes.  The stars representing the states and the stripes the original 13 colonies, declared that a new nation was on its way.

It was not unto 129 years later that President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation for Flag Day and another 33 years before congress passed an act (which was signed into law by then President Harry S. Truman) to make an official Flag Day.

So today when you are out and about, you will see that flag.  Many different variations of that flag.  big , small , high flying or low hanging. On a pole, in widows, on the uniform of our service men and women and yes even some distasteful variations.

Take time to reflect and respect her, check the flag etiquette to see if you are displaying your flag correctly.  Think about what she has been through, what she stands for and pray for what she will endure in the years to come.

Happy Flag Day Old Glory.