I was travelling home from California this weekend and as we taxied into the terminal at BWI airport the flight attendant wished us a Happy Flag Day. I had no idea yesterday was a "holiday." And when my daughter asked me what Flag Day was I couldn't tell her. I knew Betsy Ross sewed the first American Flag in 1776 (or that a myth?) because I played Betsy in a school play in 1976 to celebrate the bicentennial but that's all I could tell her. So as we taxied into our terminal we Googled it on my iPhone. Naturally Wikipedia had the information we were looking for but there is also an entire web site that is dedicated to the U.S. Flag which we found most helpful in trying to understand the significance of Flag Day. Here is what we learned...
The idea of an annual day specifically celebrating the Flag is believed to have first originated in 1885. BJ Cigrand, a schoolteacher, arranged for the pupils in the Fredonia, Wisconsin Public School, District 6, to observe June 14 (the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of The Stars and Stripes) as 'Flag Birthday'.
On June 14, 1889, George Balch, a kindergarten teacher in New York City, planned appropriate ceremonies for the children of his school, and his idea of observing Flag Day was later adopted by the State Board of Education of New York. On June 14, 1891, the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia held a Flag Day celebration, and on June 14 of the following year, the New York Society of the Sons of the Revolution, celebrated Flag Day. On June 14th, 1894, the first general public school children's celebration of Flag Day in Chicago was held in Douglas, Garfield, Humboldt, Lincoln, and Washington Parks, with more than 300,000 children participating.
Inspired by three decades of state and local celebrations, Flag Day was officially established by the Proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30th, 1916. While Flag Day was celebrated in various communities for years after Wilson's proclamation, it was not until August 3rd, 1949, that President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14th of each year as National Flag Day.
The United States is not the only country that celebrates a flag-related holiday and the United States is not the only country where you will find Sodexo employees. We have more than 380,000 employees and we operate in more than 80 countries world wide. You can meet Sodexo employee around the world on our Better Day TV website.
So...
Happy Flag Day to all of my Sodexo colleagues - belated and in the future!
By the way, as I was Googling on my iPhone I was wishing I had an iPad. Are you one of the lucky ones who has one? Do you like it?
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