Today we mark Flag Day—a day often overshadowed by barbecues and the early buzz of summer. But let me remind you: this isn’t just about flying a piece of cloth. It’s about honoring a symbol forged in the fire of war, consecrated by sacrifice, and held high by the everyday heroes who’ve carried America on their backs for nearly 250 years.

The American flag wasn’t born in glory—it was born out of necessity. When the Continental Congress adopted it on June 14, 1777, it wasn’t destined for classroom walls or Olympic ceremonies. It was a battlefield tool, a banner for soldiers who needed to know where their fellow patriots stood in the chaos. It stood tall in the gunpowder haze—not for pageantry, but for purpose.

Today we observe Flag Day. This very day, June 14th, is on the very same day in 1777 when our first national flag was made official by Congress. The flag design used then featured 13 stars, using the Betsy Ross design.

Happy #FlagDay pic.twitter.com/ykHh4bv6jZ

— Americana Aesthetic (@AmericanaAesth) June 14, 2023

Fast forward to the Civil War. That’s when the flag started to mean something more. In battle after bloody battle, it was the color bearer—the man out front with the flag—who became the enemy’s first target. He wasn’t carrying a weapon. He was carrying the soul of a fractured nation. And when one fell, another would pick it up. Not because they were told to—but because they believed in something bigger than themselves. That’s America. That’s strength.

We didn’t start honoring the flag in schools and small towns because Washington told us to. No, it started with a one-room schoolhouse in Wisconsin, where a teacher named Bernard Cigrand had the guts to say, “This matters.” One man. One desk. One belief. From there, Flag Day grew from the ground up—like all great American ideas do.

When President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed Flag Day in 1916, and President Truman made it permanent in 1949, they weren’t creating patriotism—they were recognizing it. They were giving a day to a symbol already sewn into our national DNA.

So what does the flag mean today?

This Saturday I will be celebrating flag day. How about you? Are you? pic.twitter.com/s7XQhXkagG

— Dave Bondy (@DaveBondyTV) June 10, 2025

It means freedom—but not the watered-down kind that gets tossed around in soundbites. It means sacrifice. It means millions of men and women who fought, bled, and died under it—from Bunker Hill to Baghdad. It means the mother folding it carefully at her son’s funeral. It means the kid pledging allegiance in a schoolroom his great-grandfather fought to keep free. It means resilience, unity, and unflinching strength—even when the world seems determined to pull us apart.

Democrats are worried about the Army/Flag Day Parade in DC because it’s going to be patriotic with American flags. That’s why.

— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) June 12, 2025

Critics say symbols don’t matter. That it’s just a flag. Just fabric.

But they’re very wrong.

The American flag is alive—not literally, of course—but in the way it moves people. It moves soldiers to stand tall. It moves citizens to tears. It moves generations to remember that liberty isn’t guaranteed—it’s earned. And when we raise that flag, we’re saying: we still believe in this country. Flawed? Sure. But also free, proud, and unbreakable.

This Flag Day, let’s do more than hang a flag. Let’s honor what it stands for. Let’s remember the grit and glory that built this nation. Let’s pass that fire to the next generation—because as long as that flag flies, so does the American spirit.

And that, my fellow Americans, is something worth celebrating.