History for the day

The Second Continental Congress determined the design of the American flag on Saturday, 14 June 1777. Within the Papers of the Continental Congress, it reads:

Resolved, that the flag of the thirteen united states be thirteen stripes alternate red and white, that the union be thirteen stars white in a blue field representing a new constellation.

Thus was born the famous Stars and Stripes, a flag design that evolved over time as more states joined the Union. There are now fifty stars where there were once thirteen, and the nation has witnessed 236 years of a unique history. Flag Day is now recognized on 14 June, the "birthday" of the Stars and Stripes, as a result of the efforts of a Wisconsin teacher, Bernard John Cigrand. The National Flag Day Foundation explains on its website:

In Waubeka, Wisconsin, in 1885, Bernard John Cigrand, a nineteen-year-old school teacher in a one-room school, placed a 38-star flag in an inkwell and had his students write essays on what the flag meant to them. He called 14 June the flag's birthday. Stony Hill School is now a historical site. From that day on, Bernard J. Cigrand dedicated himself to inspire not only his students, but also all Americans, in the real meaning and majesty of our flag.

As a result of Cigrand's efforts, Flag Day was officially proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, to be celebrated on the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777. It was President Harry Truman, however, who signed an Act of Congress on 3 August 1949, establishing 14 June as Flag Day in the United States.