Date: June 12, 1931
Location: Northampton, MA
Summary: Coolidge urges Americans to remember on Flag Day the significance of the flag and the duties that come with being a citizen.
(Original document available here)
National Flag Day has been observed for some years by official direction on June 14. It is the anniversary of the adoption by the Congress of the flag of the United States. We do honor to the Stars and Stripes as the emblem of our country and the symbol of all that our patriotism means.
The stars and the red, white and blue colors have a significance of their own, but when combined and arranged into the flag of our nation they take on a new significance which no other form or color can convey. We identify the flag with almost everything we hold dear on earth. It represents our peace and security, our civil and political liberty, our freedom of religious worship, our family, our friends, our home. We see in it the great multitude of blessings, of rights and privileges, that make up our country.
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. A yearly contemplation of the meaning of our flag strengthens and purifies the national conscience.
Citation: Calvin Coolidge Says: Dispatches Written by Former-President Coolidge and Syndicated to Newspapers in 1930-1931 (Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation)
The Coolidge Foundation gratefully acknowledges the volunteer efforts of Fr. Stephen Lawson who prepared this document for digital publication.