Presidential Documents

33229

Federal Register

Vol. 63, No. 116

Wednesday, June 17, 1998

Title 3—

The President

Proclamation 7105 of June 12, 1998

Flag Day and National Flag Week, 1998

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Our country has undergone enormous change since the Continental Congress

first adopted the Stars and Stripes as the official Flag of the United States

of America in 1777. The new country that struggled for 7 long years to

win independence from Great Britain is today the most powerful Nation

on Earth. The 13 original colonies huddled close to the Atlantic coast

of North America have grown into 50 States, stretching across the continent

to the Pacific coast and beyond. From a population of less than 3 million,

we have grown to more than 269 million people whose differences in

race, religion, cultural traditions, and ethnic background have made us one

of the most diverse countries in the world.

Throughout these two centuries of remarkable growth and change, the Stars

and Stripes has remained the proud symbol of our fundamental unity. Across

the generations, our flag has united Americans in the quest for freedom

and peace. Our soldiers first followed it into battle at Brandywine in 1777,

and today our Armed Forces carry it on peacekeeping and humanitarian

missions around the globe. The American flag accompanied Lewis and Clark

on their historic journey of exploration in the early 19th century, and last

year Pathfinder carried the image of the Stars and Stripes to the distant

landscape of Mars. In schoolyards, on public buildings, and displayed on

the front porches of homes across America, our flag is an enduring reminder

of the hopes, dreams, and values we all share as Americans, and of the

sacrifices so many have made to keep it flying above a Nation that is

strong, secure, and free.

Like America, our flag was fashioned to accommodate change without altering

its fundamental design. The red and white stripes have remained constant,

reminding us of our roots in the 13 colonies. The white stars on a field

of blue, shifting in pattern as new States have joined the Union, celebrate

our capacity for change. The challenge we have faced in the past and

will confront in the 21st century is the same challenge woven into the

American flag—to respond creatively to new possibilities while remaining

true to our basic ideals of freedom, justice, and human dignity. As we

celebrate Flag Day and Flag Week, let us reaffirm our reverence for the

American flag, the bright banner that has uplifted the hearts and inspired

the finest efforts of Americans for more than 200 years. It has been the

symbol of and companion on our American journey thus far, and it will

continue to lead us as we embrace the promise of the future.

To commemorate the adoption of our flag, the Congress, by joint resolution

approved August 3, 1949 (63 Stat. 492), designated June 14 of each year

as ‘‘Flag Day’’ and requested the President to 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

the President, by joint resolution approved June 9, 1966 (80 Stat. 194),

to issue annually a proclamation designating the week in which June 14

falls as ‘‘National Flag Week’’ and calling upon all citizens of the United

States to display the flag during that week.
33230 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 116 / Wednesday, June 17, 1998 / Presidential Documents

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States

of America, do hereby proclaim June 14, 1998, as Flag Day and the week

beginning June 14, 1998, 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 flying the Stars and Stripes from their homes and other

suitable places.

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

our Nation, 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 twelfth day

of June, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, and

of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred

[FR Doc. 98–16277

Filed 6–16–98; 8:45 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P

and twenty-second.

œ–