This Thursday marks the 241st anniversary of the adoption of the U.S. Flag. On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress, created the Flag in just one sentence.
Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white: that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.
On that summer day in Philadelphia, the Founders, as if they were led by divine guidance, assembled the framework for a new nation that would long stand for the high ideals of freedom and democracy.
As we have the opportunity this week to reflect on this part of our history, our forefathers stood firmly on the principle that what bound them together as new Americans, was so much stronger than what could divide them.
In the years following the birth of our Nation, white stars were added to recognize new States becoming part of the Union. At the outset of the Civil War, with 34 stars on the Flag, President Lincoln, again as if led by divine guidance, refused to remove the stars representing the states who seceded from the Union to join the Confederacy.
Like the Founders, President Lincoln remained steadfast in his conviction that the Union would survive a civil war, and represent to the world that America was, in fact, a “new constellation”. Lincoln might well of thought – what binds us together as Americans is so much stronger than what divides us.
On Thursday, June 14th, across our Nation, we celebrate National Flag Day. Although Flag Day has been always recognized as a significant day in our history, it wasn’t until 1949 when President Truman signed a Proclamation, that Flag Day was made a national day of observance.
Following the end of WWII, President Truman, having been guided by the lofty principles embodied in our flag in leading our nation into the post-war period, set aside June 14th not only to commemorate the birth of our flag, but also to rededicate ourselves to the ideals for which it stands.
The evidence is clear. Those ideals, defined as a “new constellation” by our Founders, has been at work since 1776. No matter what forces seek to split, fracture, or segregate, Americans are able to stand proudly under our flag knowing that what binds us together is so much stronger than what can divide us.
May God shed His grace on our nation.
