Flag Day

Flag Day is celebrated on June 14 and celebrates the history of the American Flag.

Here are some interesting facts about the American Flag.

• The celebration of the flag was invented by a teacher. In 1885, a 19-year-old teacher named Bernard J. CiGrand asked his class to write an essay on the symbolism of our flag. He spent the following half-century trying to make Flag Day a national holiday.
• The original flag had 13 stars and 13 stripes.
• Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag.
• There have been 27 versions of the American Flag.
• Red symbolizes hardiness and valor, white symbolizes purity and innocence and blue represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice.
• The designer of the American flag was Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence as a delegate from New Jersey.
• The current flag was designed by a teenager. In 1958, then-17-year-old Robert G. Heft of Lancaster, Ohio submitted the design in a contest. President Dwight Eisenhower chose Robert's design from over 1,500 other submissions.
• The current flag is the only one to have lasted more than 50 years.
• Flag Day was established by the Proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30th, 1916.
• The final star, for Hawaii, was added in 1960.
• The flag is normally flown from sunrise to sunset.
• The flag should not be flown at night without a light on it.
• The first time the flag was flown after being adopted was on Aug. 3, 1777, in Rome, New York.
• There are six American flags on the moon. Five are standing, but Neil Armstrong's fell over.
• The flag should not be flown in the rain or inclement weather.
• After a tragedy or death, the flag is flown at half staff for 30 days. It's called "half staff" on land, and "half-mast" on a ship.
• When your flag is old and has seen better days, it is time to retire it. Old flags should be burned or buried.
• If you like to study flags, then you are a Vexillologist!
• An American flag should never touch the floor or the ground.
• When displayed on a wall or window the blue field should be in the upper left corner.
• The military folds the flag with 13 folds, each with symbolic meaning.
• 50 flags fly 24 hours a day around the Washington monument.
• 95% of U.S. flags are made in the U.S.A.
• The U.S. flag always flies at the top of a staff above any other flag.

Photo by Cristina Glebova on Unsplash

The Pledge of Allegiance

In Saying the Pledge or not? from Blue Skunk Blog, Doug Johnson discusses the question,

"Should your school ask kids to say the Pledge?"

Every school that I’ve taught at has had the students recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Most of the time there is someone over the intercom that starts it and each class stands and repeats it.

I have no problem encouraging my students to stand up and say the Pledge. I’m disheartened that we don’t teach pride in our nation anymore and maybe that is why the young people of today do not have a lot of respect for our country. I encourage my students to feel this pride and express allegiance to our country.

Along with having to learn the Pledge of Allegiance, I also had to learn the Star Spangled Banner. I remember growing up and having to memorize what was on the Statue of Liberty:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free;
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,

Send these, the homeless,
Tempest-tossed to me
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

We were also encouraged to have pride in our country and the things that it stands for such as freedom and tolerance. Hearing my father’s first hand knowledge about what it was like to escape communism, it made me even more grateful to live in our country.

So, I have no problem for those with religions other than Christianity, I don’t see why the words “under God” are a problem. It does not designate that the God is a Christian God or a Buddhist God or any other God. For those that don’t believe in God can just not say those two words but continue with the other words.

For those that don’t want to say the Pledge, I call the parents and as long as the parents agree that their child doesn’t have to say it, I just ask that they respect the fact that others will say it. Many parents have served in the military and fought for our country and would be horrified to know that their children refuse to say the pledge or are disrespectful during the saying of it. By calling the parents, I am giving them the opportunity to discuss this at home as a family.

I don’t force my students to say the Pledge but I do enforce that they show respect. They can stand quietly and respectfully and remove their hats while it is being said and the same goes for the national anthem.