Today is the 247th anniversary of the Continental Congress adopting the Stars and Stripes as the flag of the United States of America on June 14, 1777.
Pulaski Street School celebrated Old Glory this morning with an annual Flag Day ceremony hosted by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Windcrest East Veterans attended the ceremony. The veterans pick up flags collected by the school for proper disposal.
Suffolk DAR Regent Ann Otten led the ceremonies, which included the presentation of the colors by a Riverhead High School NJROTC color guard, the Pledge of Allegiance and a demonstration and explanation of the flag-folding ceremony.
Otten reviewed the origins of the flag and told students about how the design of the flag evolved — from the Grand Union Flag prior to the Revolutionary War, to the flag reportedly designed by Betsy Ross, to the 15-stripe flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star Spangled Banner,” to the flag Americans salute today.
Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the American flag. Though it is not an official federal holiday, it has been observed since at least the Civil War era. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation to establishing June 14 as Flag Day. In August 1946, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress.
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