With new displays at Lasdon Park in Katonah, the Westchester County Center and the Michaelian Office Building in downtown White Plains, County Executive George Latimer is using the entire month of November to both honor those who have served, and give county residents an opportunity to learn more about our nation’s most famous symbol – the American flag.
“While Veterans Day falls in the month of November, it is important to honor those who have given so much for us on more than just one day,” said Latimer. “These new displays will make known to those who see it that we here in Westchester not only have respect for these heroes and what they fought for, but we also will work every day to honor their legacy.”
The displays will include three versions of the United States flag: the “Betsy Ross Flag,” the “Bennington (1976)” flag, and the current American flag featuring all 50 stars. In addition to the flags will be a guide on their history and how to properly care for them.
Included in this guide is information on the Flag Act, when to display the flag, when to salute the flag, what never to do with the U.S. flag, how to treat a flag on display and how to dispose of worn flags.
On June 14, 1777, in order to establish an official flag for the new nation, the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act: “Resolved, 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.”
The flag of the United States today has 13 stripes – seven red and six white – and 50 white stars on a blue field. The stripes remind us of the 13 original colonies that gained us liberty. The stars represent the states that are bound together. In 1892, Francis Bellamy, a journalist, wrote the Pledge of Allegiance as a tribute to the flag on the 300th anniversary of the discovery of America.
