Early Cub Scout Pack 4, Brownwood Cub Scout Pack 14, VFW Post 3278 and JROTC joined in a Flag Day observance, retiring worn and tattered flags Thursday, June 14th at Howard Payne’s Old Main Park.
Todd Powell acted as the VFW Post Member on the ground for the observance.
JROTC cadets who are attending Cadet Command and Staff School at Howard Payne University this week lowered and folded the retiring flag ceremoniously.
Receiving the retired flag from HPU’s flagpole was Ryan LeMond and accepting the new flag was Slayter Sosebee, both members of Early Cub Scout Pack 4.
Hundreds of JROTC cadets marched through the park as the Cub Scouts burned the tattered flag along with others in the honorable tradition. Brownwood Firefighter and Early Cub Scout Den Master James LeMond, with the assistance of other members of Brownwood Fire Department, oversaw the ceremony.
On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress proposed that the United States have a national flag instead of the British Union Jack. There were few public ceremonies honoring the Stars and Stripes until 1877, when on, June 14, it was flown from every government building in honor of the centennial of the adoption of a national flag.
Schools had unfurled American flags over their doors or outside the buildings long before this; but in 1890, North Dakota and New Jersey made a law that required their schools to fly the flag daily. The first official Flag Day was observed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1893. New York also proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day 1897.
Inspired by these three decades of state and local celebrations, Flag Day – the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777 – was officially established by the Proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30th, 1916. While Flag Day was celebrated in various communities for years after Wilson’s proclamation, it was not until August 3rd, 1949, that President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14th of each year as National Flag Day.
Pictured above, JROTC cadets lower the flag. Below are more photos of the ceremony.
