It's a grand old flag

It's a little-regarded holiday, kind of stuck in there between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. We would venture to say most people don't even know it is a holiday.

We don't have parades, fireworks, or sales at Kohl's to mark Flag Day. Without a calendar listing it as an official observance, few people would note June 14 is Flag Day.

Flag Day commemorates the first Flag Act, passed by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. That resolution decreed the flag of the United States would have 13 stripes, alternating red and white, with 13 stars in a blue field representing a new constellation.

At the time the resolution passed, the United States was still embroiled in the war for independence from Great Britain. Surely the new country needed a flag, but to include a symbol as long lasting as a new constellation speaks of a conviction to the permanence of the nation the congressional delegates could not have easily imagined at the time.

The design of the flag has changed from time to time, but the enduring spirit of those original freedom fighters lives on in the Stars and Stripes. It accompanied Washington as he crossed the Delaware, and it was famously raised on Iwo Jima to signal victory in the deadliest battle in Marine Corps history.

In times of distress, the flag has been a source of comfort. During the Iranian hostage crisis, from 1979 to 1981, the residents of Hermitage, Pa. erected one American flag for each day of the crisis; today, the 444 flags on the Avenue of Flags stand as a memorial to those hostages and the eight service men who died in a failed attempt at rescue.

We have included an American flag in our paper today to help our readers celebrate Flag Day on Saturday. Join us in displaying it to honor our country and everything it represents.