On this date in 1777, while the War for Independence was raging, the Continental Congress made a decision adopting the Stars and Stripes and settling on the official composition of the flag for the new nation:
“…the Flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation.”
While serving as secretary of the Continental Congress, Charles Thompson described the significance of the three colors chosen:
“…White signifies purity and innocence; Red, hardiness and valor; and Blue… signifies vigilance, perseverance, and justice.”
At the flag’s one hundredth birthday, on June 14, 1877, our nation saw the first widespread national observance of the importance of this date, which was finally made official by Congress in 1949.
But another significant act was performed on this date that has yet to see the recognition it deserves. On June 14, 1954 President Eisenhower officially added the words “under God” to our Pledge of Allegiance, signing the addition into law.
Fitting, that the same date be shared by the “birthday” of the flag, officially, as the standard for the United States of America, and the important addition to the pledge of loyalty to it, that it flies over a nation that is free, but exists by the grace of God. ~ JB
(source: The American Patriot’s Almanac)