Nearly as soon at the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center fell, people around the country began putting up American flags.
“In 2001, on the day after the 9-11 terrorist attack, our flag stood as sentinel over the ruins of the World Trade Center,” said Assemblyman Impreveduto (D-32nd Dist.) recently. In recognition of the flag’s importance, Impreveduto encouraged the public to remember National Flag Day on June 14, saying that residents should participate in community ceremonies to help find way to honor the flag at home with family and friends.
“Our young men and women are once again fighting for freedom on foreign soil,” Impreveduto said. “here at home, it is fitting that we honor the symbol that gives meaning to our freedom.”
The American flag came about as a result of a decision made on June 14, 1777, when the Continental Congress proposed that the United States have a national flag of its own rather than use the British Union Jack. In the design, the 13 stars of the flag represented the 13 new states. There were few public ceremonies honoring the Stars and Stripes until 1877, when on June 14, it was flown from every governmental building in honor of the centennial adoptions of a national flag.
Schools had been displaying American flags over their doors or outside their buildings long before this, but in 1890, New Jersey became one of the first states to enact a law that required schools to fly the flag daily. After three decades of state and local celebrations, the anniversary of the Flag of the Revolution of 1777 was official established by President Woodrow Wilson on May 30, 1916. Some years later, President Harry Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14 of each year as National Flag Day.
The Secaucus American Legion Post at Centre Avenue and Second Street continue their own ceremonies at 7 p.m. on that day, which will include the proper disposal of worn, torn or otherwise unusable American flags.
Because of the huge number of additional flags now flying in neighborhoods around the nation, there are many more flags that need to be disposed of, and most people do not know that there is a specific ceremony for doing so, done often on Flag Day by various veterans groups around the nation.
Oddly enough, this ritual involves burning of the flag. But before a flag can be burned, it must first be cut into separate pieces. The field of blue must first be cut from the stripes. Then, the stripes must be cut into strips. In this ceremony the stripes are burned first, and then the field of blue. The ashes are buried.
A significant aspect of the ceremony involves choosing a flag from those to be burned, and making the story behind that flag part of the ceremony.
A day for flags Celebration may be more important this year than ever
