Flag Day and National Flag Week, 2010

Proclamation 8535 of June 11, 2010

Flag Day and National Flag Week, 2010

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

When the Second Continental Congress adopted the
American flag on June 14, 1777, the thirteen stripes
alternating red and white, and thirteen white stars in
a blue field, represented ``a new constellation.'' On
Flag Day, and throughout National Flag Week, we
celebrate its lasting luminosity, and the enduring
American story that it represents.

Although the configuration of stars and stripes has
changed over the years it has been flown, its
significance and symbolism have not wavered. The flag
that once helped unite a new Nation to confront tyranny
and oppression still flies today as an unequivocal
emblem of freedom and liberty. The same flag that has
been raised on beaches and battlefields still adorns
the uniforms of our heroic sons and daughters serving
in America's Armed Forces, including our troops serving
in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This past year, that same flag has continued to soar.
When our American Olympic and Paralympics athletes were
positioned triumphantly on the podiums of the Vancouver
2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, our majestic
flag flew high above them. From homes to classrooms,
civic gatherings to private memorials, we gathered to
salute our flag, and in doing so, renewed the eternal
promise of this glorious Nation.

More than 220 years after Old Glory was first embraced
by our Founders, the Stars and Stripes remain the
symbol of our Nation's pride. On Flag Day and during
National Flag Week we recognize the American flag as a
symbol of hope and inspiration to people at home and
around the world--as a constellation which grows
brighter with every achievement earned and sacrifice
borne by one of our citizens.

To commemorate the adoption of our flag, the Congress,
by joint resolution approved August 3, 1949, as amended
(63 Stat. 492), designated June 14 of each year as
``Flag Day'' and requested that the President issue an
annual proclamation calling for its observance and for
the display of the flag of the United States on all
Federal Government buildings. The Congress also
requested, by joint resolution approved June 9, 1966,
as amended (80 Stat. 194), that the President annually
issue a proclamation designating the week in which June
14 occurs as ``National Flag Week'' and call upon
citizens of the United States to display the flag
during that week.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 14,
2010, as Flag Day and the week beginning June 13, 2010,
as National Flag Week. I direct the appropriate
officials to display the flag on all Federal Government
buildings during that week, and I urge all Americans to
observe Flag Day and National Flag Week by displaying
the flag. I also call upon the people of the United
States to observe with pride and all due ceremony those
days from Flag Day through Independence Day, also set
aside by the Congress (89 Stat. 211), as a time to
honor America, to celebrate our heritage in public
gatherings and activities, and to publicly recite the
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States
of America.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord two
thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.