Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3278 and the Ladies Auxiliary will observe Flag Day by joining with Junior ROTC-West Texas and Early Cub Scout Pack 4.

The observance will be held at HPU (north side at Austin Ave & Fisk) at 5:45 PM, Tuesday, June 14th. The ceremony will be conducted in accordance with the US Code Flag Retirement procedures.

The public is invited to attend and bring lawn chairs and water. The ceremony lasts around 30 minutes.

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress proposed that the United States have a national flag instead of the British Union Jack. There were few public ceremonies honoring the Stars and Stripes until 1877, when on, June 14, it was flown from every government building in honor of the centennial of the adoption of a national flag.

Schools had unfurled American flags over their doors or outside the buildings long before this; but in 1890, North Dakota and New Jersey made a law that required their schools to fly the flag daily. The first official Flag Day was observed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1893. New York also proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day 1897.

Inspired by these three decades of state and local celebrations, Flag Day – the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777 – 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.