~FLAG DAY~

....And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
~Francis Scott Key~

From the National Anthem

“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.”

“The flag of the United States” replaced the words “my Flag” in 1923 because some foreign-born people might have in mind the flag of the country of their birth instead of the United States flag. A year later, “of America” was added after “United States.”

No form of the Pledge received official recognition by Congress until June 22, 1942, when the Pledge was formally included in the U.S. Flag Code. The official name of The Pledge of Allegiance was adopted in 1945. The last change in language came on Flag Day 1954, when Congress passed a law, which added the words “under God” after “one nation.”

Originally, the pledge was said with the right hand in the so-called “Bellamy Salute,” with the right hand resting first outward from the chest, then the arm extending out from the body. Once Hitler came to power in Europe, some Americans were concerned that this position of the arm and hand resembled the Nazi or Fascist salute. In 1942 Congress also established the current practice of rendering the pledge with the right hand over the heart.

The Flag Code specifies that any future changes to the pledge would have to be with the consent of the President.

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 United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation."

http://www.wvsd.uscourts.com/

From Poem To Lyrics- "The Star Spangled Banner"

On Sept. 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote a poem after witnessing how Fort McHenry in Maryland had endured a night of British bombardment during the War of 1812; that poem, "Defence of Fort McHenry," later became the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner," the American national anthem.

Proper Wording Is Added To "Atheist" Billboard

Note to an Atheist--If you don't like the wording to the Pledge of Allegience (like so many Americans do) please feel free to write your own. Just leave ours alone!! Show some respect!
The “Under God” spray-painted by vandals onto an atheist billboard on Billy Graham Parkway over the weekend won’t be gone until just before July 4, a spokesman for Charlotte Atheists & Agnostics said today.

That’s how long it will take the billboard company to restore the sign, which featured an American flag background and quoted the original phrase from the Pledge of Allegiance – “One Nation indivisible” – before “under God” was inserted after “one nation” in 1954.

“They have to print an entirely new vinyl and then schedule a crane,” said William Warren. He added that his group has reported the vandalism to Charlotte police and spoken with a nearby Shell station about letting investigators inspect video from security cameras in hopes of identifying those who defaced the billboard.

The sign, which went up a week ago, was controversial for its message and for its location along a road named for Graham, a Charlotte-born evangelist who preached to hundreds of millions worldwide.

A state coalition of atheist, agnostic and free thinker groups is putting up the same billboard in five other cities in North Carolina. None of them had been defaced as of Monday morning, Warren said.

“A concerned citizen,” Warren said, emailed the group Saturday to report that the sign had been vandalized.

To spray-paint graffiti onto the billboard, the vandals had to get up and then climb a ladder that didn’t reach to the ground.

“Either it was two very tall people or they had a ladder to get to the ladder,” Warren said. “It looks like you’d have to do gymnastics to get up there.”

He said his group considered the vandalism an isolated act and not indicative of Charlotte’s religious community.

“It was done by one or two people off on their own who decided their only recourse was vandalism rather than having a conversation.” Warren said. “It does show how needed our message is. As atheists, we want to let people know we exist and that there’s a community here.”

Other than the vandalism, Warren said his group has received “mostly positive” responses to its billboard, including from some self-described Christians.

Plus, he credited publicity surrounding the sign with uptick in membership: “We have 58 new members.”

The Pledge of Allegiance, long recited by schoolchildren in their classrooms, was written in 1892 by a Baptist minister. But it included no religious language until “under God” was inserted by an act of Congress at the height of the Cold War. The addition was meant to distinguish the United States from the Soviet Union, which officially embraced atheism.

www.charlotteobserver.com

Neighborhood Associations Still Don't Like The American Flag - Or Any Flag That Supports the Military

These people that own/operate such type of housing had better come to grips with that great American flag! Let's face it. I can honestly see a rule concerning the decorative banner flags that you see flying in yards across America today. But to not allow these? Or the American flag? I can't imagine how a family must feel knowing that you are living somewhere without the respect for what your loved one is doing! I just can't imagine. And I would think that perhaps the operators of these "condo associations" or "neighborhood associations" would take the hint from the American people that we don't give a "you know what" about rules when it comes to the brave Americans that work at keeping our country free. We'll put our flags wherever we want to!

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Sen. Jim Webb has introduced legislation to ensure families who have relatives serving in the armed forces can publicly signal their support with a Blue or Gold Star flag.

The bill proposed by the Virginia Democrat was inspired by an incident in Ohio in which a woman was asked by her condo association to take down a Blue Star flag. The woman's son served two tours in Iraq and was wounded twice.

Webb's proposal would prevent any neighborhood associations from enacting such bans when relatives are serving during times of conflict.

A Blue Star flag is flown when a family member is serving in the military. A Gold Star signifies that a family member was killed in combat.

www.usatoday.com