BELLEFONTE — Bellefonte Elks Lodge No. 1094 held its annual Flag Day ceremony, honoring the American flag and its long history, at Talleyrand Park in Bellefonte on June 14.
The ceremony opened with the Bellefonte Community Band playing the national anthem. Bellefonte Elks Club members then presented the story of the American flag.
In 1775, a committee formed by the Continental Congress recommended the flag have 13 alternating red and white stripes, and a blue field with the red cross of St. George and the white cross of St. Andrew. This flag was hoisted on the mast of the flagship Alfred by Lt. John Paul Jones on December 3, 1775, and one month later flew over George Washington’s headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.
It is believed that in May or June of 1776, a committee composed of George Washington, Robert Morris and George Ross commissioned Betsy Ross, a Quaker from Philadelphia, to make the first flag with stars, based on a rough design they gave her. It is said that she suggested using five-point stars, rather than the six-point stars originally planned to represent the 13 Colonies.
In 1795, two stars and two stripes were added for the new states of Vermont and Kentucky. The War of 1812 was fought under this flag, and it was the sight of this flag flying over Fort McHenry on Sept. 14, 1814, that inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
On April 14, 1818, Congress adopted a resolution that declared the American flag will have 13 stripes and 20 stars for the 20 states in the Union at that time. It was further declared that a new star would be added for each additional state admitted to the Union thereafter. Since that date, the only changes to the flag have been the addition of stars.
Members of Boy Scout Troop 370, of Bellefonte, carried the different historic versions of the flag past ceremony attendees as each was described. Following the flag history presentation, several well-worn and tattered American flags were destroyed by burning, according to official protocol.
A firing squad salute and the playing of taps by bugler Mike Gleixner concluded the ceremony.
