Daily Herald opinion: Flag Day, 2026: Today, we pay respect to all that Old Glory stands for — and to the suburbanite who ushered in the annual observance

On this, the 249th anniversary of the adoption of Old Glory by the Second Continental Congress, and the 110th anniversary of the presidential proclamation designating June 14 as Flag Day, let us all remember the meaning of the day.

“When we honor our flag,” President Ronald Reagan said, “we honor what we stand for as a nation — freedom, equality, justice and hope.”

The observance is not an official federal holiday, but it has been recognized for decades as a celebration not just of our flag but also of the liberties it represents and the sacrifices that have been made in its name.

“We identify the flag with almost everything we hold dear on earth — peace, security, liberty, our family, our friends, our home,” President Calvin Coolidge said, “but when we look at our flag and behold it emblazoned with all our rights, we must remember that it is equally a symbol of our duties. Every glory that we associate with it is the result of duty done.”

At the outset, let is acknowledge briefly — yes, we pledge to do so briefly — that we find it offensive that out of whim and fancy, perhaps for legacy, leverage or profit, the current president has chosen to turn the day into a noisy sports spectacular that desecrates the White House grounds with cartoonish architecture and special favors, exploiting our most sacred national landmarks to be used as little more than commercial backdrops.

Other presidents have embraced the day differently, used the day thoughtfully to try to engage us in our purpose, in the nation's greater good. And to emphasize our obligations to posterity.

“Celebrations such as this remind us of the terrible hardships our forefathers willingly endured for their beliefs,” Reagan observed on this day in 1985. “And they challenge us to match that greatness of spirit in our own time. These anniversaries remind us that freedom is not a resting place, but a constant goal spurring us on to ever-greater achievements. America has always recognized our historic responsibility to lead the march of freedom.”

The design of the flag was adopted in 1777. George Washington explained its symbolism: “We take the star from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty.”

It wasn't until the Civil War almost a century later that the idea of a Flag Day to commemorate its meaning was first proposed, at a time when half the country was not honoring the flag.

It was a Wisconsin teacher named Bernard Cigrand who two decades later became the father of the day. In 1885, he created the first formal observance of Flag Day at an elementary school in Waubeka, Wisconsin, now a Milwaukee suburb. He went on to widely promote both reverence for the flag and for a day in its honor. Cigrand became president of the American Flag Day Association, later the National Flag Day Society, and for 30 years, he published articles and took on speaking engagements across the country rallying support for the idea.

Why should we in the Chicago suburbs be particularly enamored with remembering Cigrand's name? He was one of us.

After teaching, he moved to Illinois to study dentistry. He became a prominent dentist and set up practices in among other places, Batavia and Aurora. He moved to Batavia in 1913, where he lived until 1932 shortly before his death.

President Woodrow Wilson's proclamation in 1916 designing June 14 as Flag Day was prompted largely because of the decades of advocacy Cigrand had done on behalf of the idea.

In Waubeka, the school where Cigrand organized that first Flag Day observance has been restored and a bust of Cigrand honors his work. In Batavia, a Flag Day Monument was installed three years ago at Patriots Park to remember his contribution.

When today you salute the flag, salute also Bernard Cigrand, the local favorite son who was instrumental in creating the annual observance to pay respect to all the flag stands for.