Happy Birthday to the Flag and the Army! MRFF Board Member and retired Army Brigadier General John Compere on Flag Day and the 250th Anniversary of the U.S. Army

The birthdays of the American Flag and the United States Army are June 14th. The day is observed annually as National Flag Day and is one of our patriotic days.

The American Flag was adopted by a resolution of the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777 which provided “That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

Our flag celebrates its 248th birthday this year. 28th President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation in 1916 officially establishing June 14 as Flag Day. National Flag Day on June 14 was established by an Act of Congress in 1949 although it is not an official federal holiday. The US Flag Code (4 United States Code 1) provides guidelines on the use of the flag which are recommended but not lawfully enforceable.  

It is historically significant that the original American Flag, representing the 13 colonies with 13 white stars in a field of blue and 13 red and white horizontal stripes, has not changed since its creation except it now includes 50 stars for our 50 states. Our secular flag has remained the same for 2 1/2 centuries with no other symbols or phrases.

The United States Army was founded as the Continental Army by resolution of the First Continental Congress on June 14, 1775. It celebrates its 250th birthday this year. Philadelphia, the birthplace of our flag and Army, will have a special 3 day celebration. There will also be a daylong celebration in Washington DC featuring a military parade down Constitution Avenue and fireworks display. The Army is the oldest and largest of our nation’s armed forces. The Army’s familiar official song,“The Army Goes Rolling Along”, was adopted in 1956.

Every United States Army member (and all American armed forces members), upon entering the military service, takes the sworn loyalty oath to support, defend and bear true faith and allegiance to the secular United States Constitution (i.e. not to an individual or a religion). It is the affirmation that we are one nation under our Constitution and it is the Constitution in which we must trust. 

It is historically noteworthy that more than half of our American Presidents (i.e. 24) were also Army veterans and almost 70% of all Medals of Honor have been awarded to Army soldiers. Also, Army helicopters are traditionally named after Native American tribes (e.g. Apache, Blackhawk, Chickasaw, Cheyenne, Chinook, Choctaw, Comanche, Iroquois, Kiowa, Lakota, Shawnee and Sioux) in respectful recognition after tribal approval.

John Compere
Brigadier General, US Army (Retired)
Disabled American Veteran (Vietnam Era)
Board Member, Military Religious Freedom Foundation
Texas rancher