HAMLET – While the Fourth of July is ubiquitously (albeit arguably erroneously) recognized as the traditionally celebrated birthday of the United States, lesser attention is rendered unto June 14th: Flag Day. The history of this holiday, however, remains interesting.
June 14, 1777 was the date upon which, by resolution of the Second Continental Congress, the official “Stars and Stripes” design was adopted as our national symbol, but, for over a century, little attention was further rendered unto any of the ensuing anniversaries of this occasion. While there were some valiant attempts in the 1880’s and 90’s (and possibly as early as 1861) to have Flag Day recognized, it was not until President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation in 1916 that any official action took place on a national level. Yet another 30 years passed before, in August of 1946, National Flag Day was established by an act of Congress. Though still today not a true federal “holiday,” Flag Day finally became firmly entrenched as an official day of commemoration when President Harry Truman signed the Congressional act in 1949.
The original concept of celebrating the birth of the Flag (and yes, it is capitalized as a formal entity when referencing a particular symbol, in this case THE Flag of the United States of America, much as is true with the denotation of “Mother” in lieu of her name) is, as proves true with most ideas of this nature, difficult to authoritatively attribute to any one individual, date, or geographic location.
Records can be found to support the crediting of the idea of a “Flag Day” to many different persons at various times in our nation’s history, but the general consensus is that Bernard J. Cigrand was the true progenitor of the holiday. A persistent and persevering man, he was the facilitator of what is now recognized as the first true celebration of the birth of the Flag in 1885. It was on June 14th of that year that Cigrand, then a school teacher in Fredonia, Wisconsin, held an “official” observance by his grade-school students of the 108th “Flag Birthday.”
Moving to Chicago the next year to attend dental school, Cigrand continued to rally support for his “Flag Day” campaign. Writing articles for newspapers and magazines, he was able to get his “Fourteenth of June” submission published by the Chicago Argus. This story fostered a slow but steady growth in local support for his Flag Day concept and provided the notoriety necessary to precipitate further interest.
Throughout the late 1880’s and into the next decade, Cigrand campaigned steadily for the Flag Day commemoration. In a June 1888 speech to the Sons of America, a Chicago group, he was sufficiently persuasive as to convince the organization to sponsor a magazine, the American Standard, through which the reverence for the Flag and other patriotic symbols could be fostered. Cigrand was appointed editor and was thus enabled to intensify his advocacy for a Flag Day holiday.
The efforts yielded significant results. On the third Saturday in June of 1894, the public school children of Chicago attended Flag Day celebrations throughout the city. Festive events were held simultaneously at Douglas, Garfield, Humboldt, Lincoln, and Washington parks. So many school children (over 300,000) had participated that city officials quickly decided to schedule a similar celebration for the following summer.
Cigrand’s tireless work for a Flag Day never waned. Upon returning to Wisconsin in 1895, he was working as a grade school teacher in Waubeka, Wisconsin when he arranged for what is now acknowledged as the “first formal observance of Flag Day” at Stony Hill School. He subsequently became president of the American Flag Day Association and later of the National Flag Day Society. It was reported at the time of his death in 1932 that Cigrand had proffered 2188 speeches in support of an official Flag Day commemoration and, as noted by the Chicago Tribune, was responsible for “almost singlehandedly” establishing the holiday.
Although Bernard J. Cigrand is generally acknowledged, and rightfully so, as the true force behind our Flag Day commemoration, other individuals deserve “honorable mention” in relation to such efforts.
The earliest documented reference to any semblance of a “Flag Day” is cited in Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History (Chicago, 1912). It is noted that, due to the efforts of George Morris, the city of Hartford, Connecticut officially observed the day in 1861. As this was two months into the Civil War, the citizens gathered to pay homage to the flag and to pray for the success of the Federal Army in its efforts to maintain preservation of the Union under the established flag of the United States. However, the observance was generally considered to be a “rally” to demonstrate support for Union troops. It was thus never officially denoted as a “Flag Day” and did not lead to any type of a tradition beyond that single day’s patriotic program. Thus, George Morris, though sincere and patriotic in his efforts, was largely forgotten and effectively dismissed in regard to any viable claim to being the founder of Flag Day.
Other contributors to the saga of the developmental history of Flag Day include:
William T. Kerr (1888) – Native of Pittsburgh and later a resident of Yeadon, Pennsylvania, Kerr founded the American Flag Day Association of Western Pennsylvania in 1888 and became national chairman of the American Flag Day Association one year later. He served in the latter capacity for fifty years, attending President Harry Truman’s 1949 signing of the Congressional act that formally established the observance of Flag Day in the United States of America.
George Bolch (1889) – As the principal of a free kindergarten in New York City, Bolch had his students celebrate the American Revolution in general, and the adoption of the Flag in particular, on June 14 of 1889 and henceforth on a regular basis. It was largely due to Bolch’s practices that a series of Flag Day and Flag-related occurrences transpired. The New York State Board of Education immediately adopted the idea of observing Flag Day, and this led in turn to a similar action on the part of the New York Society of the Sons of the Revolution in 1892. Two years later in 1894, the governor of New York directed that on June 14 the Flag be displayed on all public buildings.
Elizabeth Duane Gillespie and Colonel J. Granville Leach (1893) – A descendant of Benjamin Franklin and the president of the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames of America, Gillespie was highly instrumental in Pennsylvania’s development of Flag Day activities. In conjunction with similar efforts by Colonel J. Granville Leach of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution, Gillespie attempted to have a resolution passed requiring that the American flag be prominently displayed on all Philadelphia public buildings and by private citizens. Though unsuccessful in this mission, results were forthcoming when Dr. Edward Brooks, then superintendent of public schools in Philadelphia, directed that Flag Day exercises for school children (each of whom was given a small flag) be held on June 14th, 1893, in Independence Square. Such events ostensibly precipitated further movements that resulted in Pennsylvania, in 1937, becoming the first state to adopt Flag Day as an official state holiday.
It should be noted that the U.S. Army celebrates its birthday on this date as well. In fact, the birth of the Army actually predates that of the Flag by two years; Congress adopted “the American Continental Army” after reaching consensus in the Committee of the Whole on June 14, 1775.
It should also be noted that President Donald Trump was born on this date in 1946 and is thus celebrating his 72nd year of life, which technically makes him older than Flag Day (assuming acceptance of the 1949 signing by Truman as the “birth” of such).
