Flag Day 2024

"If you fly the American flag, everyone seems to know who you're voting for"

Credit: Elizabeth Rose.

Happy 249th birthday, Army. I usually overlook the anniversary of the formation of my branch of military service on June 14. This year, I remembered.

Happy 78th birthday, President Donald John Trump. He should be looking forward to the end of eight years as president, but between covid and Democrats stuffing the ballot box with mail-in votes, his second term was delayed — postponed due to an evil reign.

But most of all, happy 247th birthday to the American flag. When I think of the flag, George M. Cohan’s You’re a Grand Old Flag comes to mind.

You're a grand old flag
You're a high-flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave
You're the emblem of
The land I love
The home of the free and the brave
Ev'ry heart beats true
Under red, white and blue
Where there's never a boast or brag
But should old acquaintance be forgot
Keep your eye on the grand old flag

James Cagney sang it best. The movie was about Cohan’s life. It ends with FDR presenting Cohan with a congressional honor for writing that song and Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Flag Day began with a 19-year-old teacher in Wisconsin. The Smithsonian noted, “Bernard J. Cigrand is considered by many to be the Father of Flag Day as we know it today. Working as a schoolteacher in Waubeka, Wisconsin, Cigrand arranged for his pupils at Stony Hill School to celebrate the American flag’s birthday on June 14, 1885. This celebration marked the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of the Stars and Stripes. Shortly after this celebration, Cigrand moved to Chicago, Illinois, to attend dental school. His dedication to observing the birthday of the flag did not stop with his move. In June 1886, he publicly proposed an annual observance of the flag birthday in an article entitled ‘The Fourteenth of June,’ published in a Chicago newspaper. His efforts remained steadfast in the years to come.”

Today also marks the 178th anniversary of the Bear Flag Revolution in which 33 settlers and mountain men declared independence from Mexico in Sonoma, California. Their California Republic lasted 25 days but resulted in America annexing California. Mexicans still may have the last laugh.

Texans had several flags from their war of independence from Mexico. The Gonzales Flag probably pisses liberals the most. It is black-and-white as it was made before we had color TV. It features a cannon on a field of white with the words Come And Take It.

Authentic Texas said, “It was the fall of 1835. Mexican President Santa Anna had dissolved the Constitution and made himself dictator. Tensions began to flare between his oppressive government and the liberty minded desires of Texans and Tejanos. To suppress the rumblings of unrest and revolution, the Mexican military leaders began their quest to quietly disarm the Texans. One of the first actions was to retrieve a cannon lent to the Texan colonists at Gonzales. The famous bronze cannon was loaned to the Gonzales colonists by the Mexican government in 1831 to defend themselves from hostile Apaches and Comanches. Mexican Corporal Casimiro De León and a few soldiers were sent to reclaim the cannon.”

Well, readers know darned well how that went. The first Gonzales Flag was made from a wedding dress belonging to Naomi DeWitt.

Flags are more than a piece of cloth. If they weren’t, it would not be a felony for teens to leave donuts on a pride flag painted on a street. They face 10 years in prison.

Americans have had many flags.

Topping the list this year is the Pine Tree Flag, which is a green pine tree on a field of white emblazoned with the words An Appeal To Heaven. It is not to be confused with the Pine Tar Flag, which is George Brett on a field of white emblazoned with the words An Appeal To Umpires.

San Francisco City Hall waved the Pine Tree Flag proudly for 60 years, until lefties went after Justice Alito for waving one. San Francisco quickly pulled theirs down.

Even the New York Times barfed on that move.

American Flags reported, “The Appeal to Heaven flag was designed by Colonel Joseph Reed, who served as the personal secretary to George Washington. Originally commissioned for use on six military cruiser ships, the flag was adopted on October 21, 1775. It became the official Massachusetts navy flag in 1776.

“Washington’s secretary chose a simple yet impactful design featuring a singular pine tree, a symbol of strength and resiliency within the New England states. The words ‘An Appeal to Heaven’ stretch atop a white field, boldly proclaiming an appeal to God to save the colonists from the King’s oppressive rule.”

Heaven heard. The Lord sent Marquis de Lafayette, Jean de Rochambeau, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, and Frederich Wilhelm von Steuben from Europe to help free the nation. George Soros sent Nazis to deface the statues of those four men near the White House.

Then there is the Betsy Ross Flag.

5 years ago, NBC reported, “Nike has pulled a new Fourth of July shoe featuring the Betsy Ross flag for the 13 American colonies reportedly after Colin Kaepernick expressed concerns, sparking outrage among some conservatives and prompting the Arizona governor to announce his state will pull millions of dollars in financial incentives to the company.”

It is just as well. The shoes are made by slaves in Red China.

Then there is the Gadsden Flag which is a rattlesnake on a yellow field emblazoned with the words Don’t Tread On Me.

The Washington Post calls it a Confederate flag (“The disgraced Confederate history of the ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ flag”). The media exists only to enable idiots to spread their lies.

The real Confederate Flag was the Stars and Bars, which was designed by Democrats. Over time they grew to prefer the Confederate Battle Flag, which was embraced by Jimmy Carter in his 1976 campaign and Bill Clinton in his 1992 campaign.

The Gadsden flag definitely is for all Americans.

The American Flag Company said, “The Gadsden flag was designed during the American Revolution by an American statesman, Christopher Gadsden, in 1775.”

He was a colonel in the Continental Army.

The company also said, “Rattlesnakes were plentiful in the original thirteen colonies.”

We sent them all to Washington where they now run the bureaucracies.

For 247 years, the official flag has been the red, white and blue with a star for each state (or colony) and 13 stripes.

But there was an exception. For 23 years — 1795 to 1818 — the flag was 15 stars and 15 stripes. That was the flag Francis Scott Key sang about. We went back to 13 stripes in 1818 with 20 stars representing how many states had joined the union.

However, the flag does not always change when we add a state. From 1877 to 1890, we stayed with 38 states even as we added more. Finally, we went to 43 states when we added Idaho. It was outdated 6 days later when we added Wyoming.

Thanks to the Bolsheviks in academia, many Americans have learned to hate the flag. When Kaepernick was finished as a quarterback, he prolonged his career by leading a boycott of the Star-Spangled Banner. This got him a big Nike contract.

But the snooty scorning of Our Flag and patriotism of lefties have made it easier for Trump supporters. As a fellow named Larry tweeted, “Has anyone noticed that if you fly the American flag, everyone seems to know who you’re voting for?”

Kevin Powell replied, “Coincidently — we all know who pride flaggers are voting for!”

The country no longer is divided between conservatives and lefties. It is divided between proud Americans and LGBT pride. Today the Americans get their turn at bat.