Pulaski Street Intermediate School students celebrated the 248th birthday of the American flag this morning with the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The event has been hosted at the school by the Suffolk County Chapter of DAR for at least 15 years, Suffolk Chapter Regent Ann Otten said.
The program includes a history of the flag and the holiday marking its adoption as the official flag of the United States, as well as a flag-folding ceremony by a Riverhead High School NJROTC Color Guard.
The first flag resolution was adopted by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. The resolution mandated that the flag of the United States have 13 stripes, alternate red and white, with a union of 13 white stars on a blue field “representing a new constellation.”
The 13 stripes represent the original 13 states. The stars represent the current number of states in the union, an arrangement dictated by an act of Congress signed into law by President James Monroe in 1818.
To commemorate the anniversary of the adoption of our flag, Congress on August 3, 1949 designated June 14 of each year as “Flag Day” and requested the president to issue an annual proclamation calling for its observance.
The Windcrest East Veterans attend the program each year and collect old flags no longer fit to be flown. The veterans group brings them to Calverton National Cemetery for a proper disposal ceremony.
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Denise Civiletti
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