In Honor of National Flag Week 2022
“What Binds Us Together as Americans is so much stronger that what divides us”
For 245 years our Flag has stood atop our Nation. From its creation in 1777, the Flag has been at the center of our nation’s birth, our trials, and our triumphs. It has unified us to remain a free and independent people. It is our hope for our Nation’s future. Indeed, it has become our Nation.
Our Nation’s Destiny
The Flag of the United States of America was born on June 14, 1777. Without much discussion, debate, or opposition, the Continental Congress, passed a Flag Resolution that read:
“Resolved, that the Flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternating red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation”
It strikes me as to concise, yet profound the Flag Resolution is. By concluding the Resolution with the phase, “representing a new Constellation”, it was clear that the Founders were inspired
that this new nation would be become a nation unlike the world had ever seen.
Knit together in the Colonies quest for independence, the first Americans fought bravely under the banner of 13 Star Flag to secure our Nation’s destiny- one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Our Nation’s Great Trial
In the years following the birth of our Nation, white stars were added to the Flag to recognize new states that were becoming part of the Union. At the outset of the Civil War, in 1861, there were 34 stars on the Flag.
President Lincoln, as if led by the same type of inspired vision possessed by the Founders, refused to remove the stars from the Flag of the states who had left the Union to join the Confederacy. Like the Founders, Lincoln remained steadfast in his conviction that our nation would survive a great war and represent to the world that the United States was in fact a “new constellation”.
The 50-star Flag that flies above our Nation today, is a fulfillment of Lincoln’s dream, a re-united United States.
Our Nation’s Unity
Throughout the years, no matter what forces have sought to divide our Nation, extinguish our freedoms, take away our liberties, or destroy the unity of our people, our Nation’s . Flag bears testimony to the proof that what binds us together as Americans is so much stronger that what divides us.
Our Flag is not just symbolic, it has substance. It is the Flag’s substance that unifies us-
e pluribus unum, out of many, one, which is our nation’s motto.
The Flag unifies us to our Nation’s birth, the struggle for independence, and the foundation to live as a free people.
It unifies us to Lincoln, inspiring us to live as a just and righteous people.
It unifies us to those who have served to protect and preserve our Nation, especially those who have given their life for it.
It unifies us in our victories, our benevolence, and our humanitarian efforts, both here and abroad, and, most significantly,
when we are struck by national tragedies and loss, the Flag, unifies us in our mourning so that we may rise once again, striving to become a more perfect union.
The Flag of the United States of America – Our Nation’s most Precious Asset
Douglas R. Horn
June 2022
About Doug Horn
Since 1990, Attorney Doug Horn has focused his law practice on representing injured persons in Missouri, Kansas, and across the Midwest. His areas of concentration include cases involving head, neck, back, and other serious injury requiring extended medical care and rehabilitation. In addition to his law practice, Horn frequently presents to national attorney audiences in the area of personal injury law and litigation.
