The Emblem of the Land We Love

"If anyone, then, asks me the meaning of our flag, I say to him—it means just what Concord and Lexington meant; what Bunker Hill meant; which was, in short, the rising up of a valiant young people against an old tyranny to establish the most momentous doctrine that the world had ever known - the right of men to their own selves and to their liberties." —Henry Ward Beecher It is said that on June 14, 1908, Theodore Roosevelt was dining in Philadelphia. He noticed a man wiping his nose with what looked like an American flag. Roosevelt took a wooden rod in hand and began to whip him for "defacing the symbol of America." After a half dozen thrashes, he noticed it was merely a blue handkerchief decorated with white stars. He apologized to the man, but gave him one more whack for making him "riled up with national pride."

Roosevelt, known for his combustibility, obviously went too far. Flag Day should be an opportunity for civil expressions of national pride. Tucked into the beginning of summer after Memorial Day, but before Independence Day, Flag Day was first officially celebrated in 1877, as the centennial marking of the American flag's creation. By the early 20th century, Americans celebrated it every year. Its place on our calendar was confirmed by Presidents Wilson and Truman, along with Congress.

June 14 was a natural date, as it is the flag's birthday and the founding date of the U.S. Army. Our soldiers have fought under that flag, they have been rallied by the sight of Old Glory, even when defeat hovered over them. The stars and stripes decorate the caskets bearing their bodies, when they have given up every earthly thing for their nation.

America's devotion to its flag is unlike that of nearly every other nation. Municipal buildings in Germany and France are not decorated with flags. They do not teach their children songs like "It's a Grand Old Flag," or pledge their allegiance to it. In

totalitarian states, citizens don't spontaneously unfurl it in the street or fix it to lampposts. Pointing this out is no slight on the patriotism of others; they have other sorts of songs

and holidays appropriate to their own history. But it does say something about the esteem of Americans for this symbol of their Republic. Our history is woven in 13 stripes representing our beginning as diverse colonies, and the stars recording our transformation into 50 United States. The flag has changed in the past two centuries, reflecting the growth of this extended Republic. Our affection for the flag seems to grow with time, as well.

The author James Bradley, contemplating the photograph of his father and five other men raising the flag on Iwo Jima, wrote that the sight of it, "transported many thousands of anxious, grieving, and war-weary Americans into a radiant state of mind: a kind of sacred realm, where faith, patriotism, mythic history, and the simple capacity to hope intermingled." Our soldiers, airmen, and marines today share that same fervor and devotion. Flag day is our chance to rekindle that radiant state of mind.