Letter to the Editor - Celebrate our nation's flag on Flag Day

Editor,

On Aug. 3, 1949, President Harry S. Truman singed the following into law:

“The 14th day of June of each year is hereby designated as ‘Flag Day,’ and the President of the United States is authorized and requested to issue annually a proclamation calling upon officials of the government to display the flag of the United States on all government buildings on such day and urging the people to observe the day as the anniversary of the adoption on June 14, 1777, by the Continental Congress of the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States of America.”

Throughout our American history the significance of the U.S. flag’s colors have come to correspond with those of the Great Seal: White signifying purity and innocence; red, hardiness and valor and blue, vigilance, perseverance and justice. The stars becoming symbolic of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial and of the Union itself.

The U.S. flag has a long and rich history that should captivate all Americans. Thanks to Francis Scott Key, whose spirit soared upon seeing the U.S. flag flying above Fort McHenry, the flag became known after the War of 1812 as the Star-Spangled Banner. In 1831, the flag received another popular term of endearment when the banner was unfurled aboard the ship of Capt. William Driver of Salem, Massachusetts, who upon seeing the flag wave amid the ocean breezes, exclaimed, “Old Glory.”

Today, we see the Star Spangled Banner wherever we turn, on homes, businesses, automobiles and billboards. Such displays stimulate our love for our nation and for what it stands; they remind us of the sacrifices that have been and are being made by the men and women of our armed forces around the world and they are a tribute to the heroes of the emergency services the nation over.

This Sunday, June 14, the Havre Elks Lodge #1201 encourages all citizens to honor our country’s flag — to celebrate the lives of those who have served under it, and to revere the many achievements which have been created beneath its folds.

With pride and gratitude,

Bob Nieuwenhuyse

Past exalted ruler, Havre Lodge #1201, B.P.O. Elks