MY TURN: Our flag as more than cloth and color

June 14, 2025, marks 248 years since the second Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the “Flag Resolution”:

“Resolved that the flag of the United States shall be of 13 stripes of alternate red and white, with a union of 13 stars of white, on a blue field, representing the new constellation.”

This was indeed a new and “not yet“ constellation among the maps of the world. On June 14, 1777, the War for Independence was in full swing with a quite unclear outcome. Skeptics were abundant: “What brazen folly,” … for a group of locally grown militiamen to take on the British empire. “Such over confidence,” … that the continental Congress, which would be temporarily run out of town by invading British troops, would presume a victory for independence. Yet, those “times that try men’s souls“ brought out the best. Despite life-threatening weather and disease as well as woefully insufficient supplies, the continental army against all odds did prevail.

By the terms of the treaty of Paris in 1783 the British acknowledged the complete Independence of the American colonies. The new constellation of the United States did indeed manifest to the world. The newly designed flag was no longer a symbol of substantial hope but also the realized evidence of the invisible principles that are the foundations of freedom.

Flag Day celebrations began in the elementary school setting in the 19th century. This transpired over a period of years by way of educators who recognized the importance of explaining to young minds the principles of freedom. Eventually, in 1949, President Truman signed the act of Congress making June 14 our official “Flag Day.” As we look back over the many events in our nation and in the world since the birth of this “new constellation," we can see that our Stars and Stripes is so much more than a pretty collection of cloth and color.

Those bold hopes of 1777 have flowered into realities of liberty that were only faintly rising in a world where societies were structured on the basis of class or heredity. In contrast, our Flag has come to represent an encyclopedia of ideals suggesting that societies are best structured on the spiritual belief in the dignity and worth of the individual. A person’s background, condition or position along the journey of life is not the determining factor. It is our divine rather than social heritage that matters most. The Americans knew that their success ultimately derived from their reliance on Divine Providence.

In history, there have always been challenges to liberty. This happens externally in the form of direct or indirect military aggression as well as in the more subtle arenas of trade and ideas. These challenges occur internally in the form of civil unrest designed for chaos and the support of violence toward persons and property. Our American heroes, both as soldiers in war and as first responders have given their lives in defense of life and liberty. Their sacrifice has made it possible for others, including ourselves in these times, to continue to live free.

As technology shrinks the distance between societies and their structural values which may be in stark competition, the variety and strength of these challenges continue to mount. Governmental vacuums inviting competitions, where the attractions of power over persons become stronger, further increase the challenges to freedom.

In light of this global situation and of our own struggles regarding morals and politics, it is so important to strengthen internally the values represented by our Flag. These include the nurturing of faith, personal responsibility, the importance of family, and a welcoming discussion of all ideas as an enriching and strengthening resource. Fidelity to these ideals supports inner strength and has been a foundational reason for our nation’s abundant invisible and visible wealth. This makes our Flag an inspiration for sacrifice and a beacon of hope for so many who love liberty.

Our Flag also represents actual boundaries and borders. It is a statement and promise that there exists an actual space where dwells a society based on these ideas of intrinsic personal worth, personal possibility, and an open welcome for all who aspire to the same.

Not unrelated to our flag as symbolic of these values is our Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. For our Nation’s 100th anniversary this was a present from the people of France to commemorate the American/French alliance of the Revolutionary War. This “Goddess of Liberty Enlightening the World” lifts high her bright torch of freedom in welcome to anyone of any circumstance who truly “yearns to breathe free."

Our Flag represents so many values as well as a long history of sacrifice in their service. As we fly the flag here and around the world we remember that it is a strong symbol of invisible ideas which have given rise to a visible land; a land with borders that are meant to be as much a promise for those who would hope to be free as a barrier against those who would seek to enslave. And although it is possible to burn and ridicule the physical flag, it is impossible to destroy the eternal ideals it represents and which live in the American heart.

The “song" of our flag is similar to the end words of a sonnet by Emma Lazarus engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty:

“… Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free …

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

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William Green is a Coeur d’Alene resident.