happy flag day!

Having just done about ten minutes of research, I now know way too much about Flag Day. For your edification and general knowledge, I'll share some of it with you. Feel free to let your eyes glaze over the boring stuff. (Yeah, I know, see you next post)

Points of interest:

1. The Great Flag Day Difference of Opinion
There is some difference of opinion as to who really started flag day. Most sources cite BJ Cigrand ("yes, hi, I'm BJ." "Oh, nice to meet you, I'm MILF."), a schoolteacher from Wisconsin as the guy who started the idea of celebrating the "Flag Birthday" in 1885.

Other folks think that William T. Kerr from Collier Township, PA was the guy responsible, since he started the American Flag Day Association of Western PA in 1888. ("Welcome to the first AFDAWPa meeting!" "Thanks, but where is everybody?" "Oh, we're both here now.")
Then there are some folks in Kansas who wrote a book saying that George Morris of Hartford, CT had everybody in Hartford worshipping the flag in 1861.

Care to read more? (Didn't think so) Go here.

2. Thanks, Mr. President!
It took two presidents (and one Congress, in 1777) to get us flag day -- the first was Woodrow Wilson in 1916, who proclamated that flag day should be observed, and the second was Harry Truman who, in 1949, signed an Act of Congress making June 14th National Flag Day. (I like to wonder what other really important stuff wasn't being signed because they were so busy making a goofy federal non-holiday official.)

3. Move to Pennsylvania!
Flag Day is a legal holiday there. 'Nuff said.

4. Flag Etiquette
Apparently, "there is a right way and a wrong way to display the flag." Among the rules: "Never let your flag touch the ground, never...period." and "Fold your flag when storing. Don't just stuff it in a drawer or box." (I like to apply those rules to clean laundry as well.)

5. Flag Symbolism
According to the wikipedia, "...a book about the flag published by the Congress in 1977 states: 'The star is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun.' George Washington is credited for saying: 'We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing Liberty.'" (Ok, how many of you actually read this?)

I found this one a little dramatic, and harder to swallow, but that's what you get when you do research online: "Many people also take the red and white to stand for the blood of those who gave their lives for freedom, and the presumed purity of the freedom ideal, respectively." (more here)

Other Random Flaggy Things:

1. In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote a poem, "Defense of Fort McHenry," when he saw the flag still flying the morning after an attack by the British. Today, that poem is known by another name: "The Star-Spangled Banner."

2. The Flag Act of 1818 states that a star be added for any new state on the Fourth of July following that state's admission. (I'd like to see, I don't know, Rhode Island split into two states and then see how flagmakers the world over would make 51 stars look good.)

3. Students first said the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892, the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. (And by "Americas" we don't actually mean the United States.)

4. In 1983, the world's largest flag was displayed in Washington, D.C. The flag, which measured 411 feet by 210 feet, weighed 7 tons! Each star measured 13 feet across! (#1-4 c/o this site... with my comments, of course)

5. The coolest big-ass flag was knit (knitted?) by an artist named Dave Cole, using two John Deere Machines holding two 20 foot needles. It's pretty awesome, actually. (I've seen a video)

6. Is the American flag still on the moon? NASA thinks so. (Although it probably got knocked over when the Apollo 11 took off.)

7. Flag Day Poetry.

8. How many flag references are there in the Bible? (yes, I was wondering, too). One, apparently. And it refers to a plant.

Feeling edified, smartypants? Take this Flag Day Quiz. (I got only 6 right on the first try, and I had to guess... apparently there's more info on flag day than I had thought. However, if you don't get the Betsy Ross question right, you will be forced to move to Pennsylvania and still have to work on Flag Day.)