The Northern Grafton County Republican Committee will be conducting a Flag Day event honoring the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
At the time of the Revolutionary War in 1775, many colonists were not fighting under the colors of a single flag, but under their own flags.
The Second Continental Congress created the Continental Army, a unified colonial fighting force, which led to the creation of the first “American” flag, which was known as the “Continental Colors.”
This flag was comprised of 13 red and white alternating stripes and a Union Jack in the upper-left-corner which was similar to the British flag. General George Washington rejected the idea of a flag which even remotely looked like the British flag!
On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress took a break from creating the Articles of Confederation, and passed a resolution stating that the “the flag of the United States of America be 13 stripes, alternate red and white, and that the Union in the upper left-corner be 13 stars white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”
In 1885, Bernard Cigrand, a small Wisconsin teacher, originated the idea for an annual flag day, to be celebrated across the country every June 14th.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson marked the the anniversary of that decree by officially establishing June 14th as Flag Day. The American flag is synonymously referred to as “The Stars and Stripes” as well as “Old Glory.”
Please bring your own flag, and join the NGCRC in honoring our flag on June 14th at the Mascoma Bank Knoll across the street from the Littleton Opera House from 12:00 pm, noon, to 2:00 pm, rain or shine.
And, remember the NGCRC will be conducting our monthly meeting that later that night at 6:00 pm at the Littleton Elks Lodge in Bethlehem