Flag Day and National Flag Week, 2012

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Proclamation 8837 of June 11, 2012

Flag Day and National Flag Week, 2012

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Ninety-six years ago, our Nation first came together to
celebrate Flag Day--an occasion when President Woodrow
Wilson asked us to ``stand with united hearts for an
America which no man can corrupt, no influence draw
away from its ideals, no force divide against itself.''
This week, we mark nearly one century since that
historic proclamation, and more than two centuries
since the Second Continental Congress brought 13 United
States under a single standard.

For over 200 years, our flag has proudly represented
our Nation and our ideals at home and abroad. It has
billowed above monuments and memorials, flown beside
the halls of government, stood watch over our oldest
institutions, and graced our homes and storefronts.
Generations of service members have raised our
country's colors over military bases and at sea, and
generations of Americans have lowered them to mourn
those we have lost. Though our flag has changed to
reflect the growth of our Republic, it will forever
remain an emblem of the ideals that inspired our great
Nation: liberty, democracy, and the enduring freedom to
make of our lives what we will.

As we reflect on our heritage, let us remember that our
destiny is stitched together like those 50 stars and 13
stripes. In red, white, and blue, we see the spirit of
a Nation, the resilience of our Union, and the promise
of a future forged in common purpose and dedication to
the principles that have always kept America strong.

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,
2012, as Flag Day and the week beginning June 10, 2012,
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 twelve, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.