WAUBEKA — Each June, the people of Waubeka venerate perhaps the nation’s most enduring symbol, celebrating Flag Day, a holiday that escapes the notice of many Americans.
People are also reading…
A giant flag is seen on display outside the National Flag Foundation in Waubeka on June 9. Old Glory is venerated annually in Waubeka, the small town that lays claim to the first Flag Day.
Harlow, a Jack Russell terrier, wears a national flag hat while watching a parade on June 9 in Waubeka.
Children watch tractors in a parade in Waubeka on June 9.
Children collect candy while watching a parade on June 9 in Waubeka.
Historic U.S. flag photos
Historic U.S. flag photos
Flag Day is celebrated every year on June 14 thanks to a proclamation issued by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened on June 14 in 1777.
In celebration of Flag Day, take a look back at historic photos of the United States flag.
Historic US Flags
From the Old Time Shop in Lenox, Mass. comes this historic flag to be exhibited at the country antiques fair, 71st Regt. Armory, Park Ave. at 34th St. on April 9-14. Discovered in the attic of an old farmhouse in Lee, Mass., the flag once hung from the "Old Liberty Tree" in Boston as a signal to the Sons of Liberty to prepare for action against the English - until cut down by the irate British in 1775. Governor Francis Bernard of the Massachusetts colony writing to Lord Hillsborough on June 18, 1768 mentions that: ?Liberty Tree is a large elm upon which effigies were hung in the time of the Stamp Act, and from whence mobs made their parades. In August, last, they erected a flagstaff which went through the tree and a good deal above the top. Upon this they hoist a flag as a signal for the Sons of Liberty, as they are called. (AP Photo)
Giant American flag
A giant American flag is displayed by the Amoskeag River Mills in Manchester, N.H., on July 4, 1915. The flag measured about 95 feet long, 50 feet high and weighed some 200 lbs.
Star Spangled Banner
An exact duplicate of the huge, original “Star Spangled Banner” made by Mary Pickersgill and flown over Ft. McHenry, September 13 and 14, 1814 was presented to the City of Baltimore by the Master Brewers Association of America. The flag was placed in the memorial. General view showing flag being carried across to the War Memorial Plaza its repository in Baltimore, Md., on Oct. 8, 1941. (AP Photo)
World War II
Torn and battle-stained, this American flag, the first ashore in Morocco at the start of the North African campaign on November 8 is put on display at Washington on March 4, 1943 at the War Department Building. Lt. Dallas Halverstadt points out hole torn by first fire of action at Fedala as the flag was carried ashore on initial landing boat.
Flag Day 1952
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower waves to confetti-tossing crowds lining the parade route to Detroit's City Hall, June 14, 1952, where he made a non-political Flag Day address. A mammoth flag, said to be the largest American flag in the world, covers the front of a large department store in the background. Man in the front of the car is unidentified.
Stars and Stripes
Unfurled against a picturesque English sky, the replica of an earlier ?Stars and Stripes? with its thirteen stars and thirteen bars makes a brave picture in London on March 21, 1943. It will later unfurl permanently in a place of honor at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Four early American flags
These are four of the early American flags shown June 20, 1948, made by Mrs. William H. Jenkins, retired history teacher in Chicago public schools. At top, left is the first flag to fly on New England soil. It is the Raven flag of Leif Ericson. The Raven symbolized the search for land. Top, right, is the cross of St. George, used by John Cabot on his voyages in the 15th century. It was also used by the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. At bottom, left, is the "Victory or Death" flag of the Minutemen at Concord on April 19, 1775. And at bottom, right, is the Bennington, Vt., flag flown by New England troops in 1777. The 13-seven-point stars over the ?76? represented the occasion of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
Oldest U.S. flag in existence; Old Glory
The largest collection of historic and priceless American flags ever assembled at one time in one place will be displayed by the American Legion in the Chrysler Salon at New York City between June 8-17 as part of the Legion?s nation-wide ?New Glory for Old Glory? campaign. Shown here looking at what is thought to be the oldest U.S. flag in existence are on June 6, 1955: left to right: Tom F. Morrow, General Manager of Defense Operation Division, Chrysler Corp.; James F. O?Neill, Past National Commander of the American Legion and Vice President Richard M. Nixon. (AP Photo)
Grand Union flag
The Grand Union flag, bottom, our first truly national flag, is an evolution from earlier Red Ensigns, top and center shown Dec. 13, 1975. The additions of the words "Liberty and Union" and of the 13 "rebellious stripes" were part of that evolution: the American flag was born as the nation was born, slowly and place by piece. The Grand Union, first run up by John Paul Jones in 1775, continued as the unofficial national flag until Independence.
Battle-torn American flag; Pearl Harbor
This oil-stained, battle-torn American flag was flying proudly from a captain?s gig in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese struck on December 7, 1941. Battle missiles tore it from its staff and tossed into the bay from where it was retrieved by Lieut. Commander Fred Welden, who sent it back to the United States. It is being held by L.E. White (left) and Clyde E. Wilson, Yeomen in the Naval recruiting office at Kansas City on April 23, 1942. (AP Photo)
Home-made copies of early American flags
Mrs. William H. Jenkins, a retired history teacher in Chicago public schools, is teaching citizenship with home-made copies of early American flags. The daughter of a Civil War Veteran, Mrs. Jenkins studied every text available on flag history and began making her own reproductions of the most famous ones. Her creations are used to illustrate lectures given by her on flag history. Mrs. Jenkins works on her copy of the Betsy Ross flag on June 20, 1948, which has adopted by Congress in Philadelphia on June 14, 1777. It has 13 five-point stars arranged in a circle on a field on blue, with 13 alternate red and white stripes. The small flag in the sewing basket (right) is the flag of courthouse. It was on the courthouse of the town of Guilford, N.C., during an important battle of the revolution, in 1781. The stars in the canton were set in horizontal rows. (AP Photo/Edward Kitch)
48 Stars flag
Historical U.S. Flag with only 48 stars on June 29, 1957. (AP Photo)
Lincoln flag
Barbara Buchanan, president of the Pike County Historial Society, points to a blood stain on a flag at the historical society's museum in Milford, Pa., Thursday, June, 20,1996. For decades, skeptics scoffed at claims that a U.S. flag in a rural Pennsylvania museum had served as a pillow for the bleeding head of Abraham Lincoln the night he was assassinated in 1865. A cynical Lincoln scholar investigated the claim and was stunned after finding that the flag, taken from Ford's Theatre by a stage manager, is legitimate. (AP Photo/Craig Houtz)
Lincoln flag
A flag that decorated the Presidential box at Ford's Theatre the night of Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865 is displayed at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford, Conn., Thursday, July 5, 2001. Period illustrations suggest that the president might have clutched the flag the moment he was shot by John Wilkes Booth. (AP Photo/Steve Miller)
Field of stars
Sixth graders from the Halifax Elementary School help unfurl a field of stars which will become part of an American flag, at the Halifax Congregational Church in Halifax, Mass., Thursday, March 7, 2002. The flag will be part of the National Flag Exhibit, a collection of 45-foot by 90-foot U.S. and foreign flags based at the Boston National Historical Park. (AP Photo/Julia Malakie)
Civil War flag
Marie Kirby, of Des Moines, left, and Dorothy Potthoff, of Jefferson, view an Iowa Civil War flag that is dispalyed following restoration, Wednesday, April 20, 2005, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. The flag was carried by the 33rd Iowa Infantry, a group of farmers, businessmen and craftsmen who left their families in the fall of 1862. About a third of the unit survived battle and disease to return home in 1865, said Bill Johnson, curator for the State Historical Society of Iowa.(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Oregon Flag
Gary Eichman takes a glimpse of first American Flag sewn in Oregon at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, June 29, 2011. The Oregon Historical Society is displaying an impressive piece of history from its vault, what is believed to be the very first American flag sewn in Oregon. One hundred and fifty years ago, Oregon pioneer Ann Elizabeth Bills was asked to sew an American flag to celebrate Independence Day. This flag, which is being displayed at the Oregon Historical Society for the first time, has been well preserved since its first flight on 4th street in Portland on July 4, 1861. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Oregon Flag
The stars from the first American Flag sewn in Oregon is shown at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, June 29, 2011. The Oregon Historical Society is displaying an impressive piece of history from its vault, what is believed to be the very first American flag sewn in Oregon. One hundred and fifty years ago, Oregon pioneer Ann Elizabeth Bills was asked to sew an American flag to celebrate Independence Day. This flag, which is being displayed at the Oregon Historical Society for the first time, has been well preserved since its first flight on 4th street in Portland on July 4, 1861. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
