Flag Day

Flag Day is June 14 every year. It marks the day in 1777 when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the flag of the United States. It is a national observance rather than a federal holiday, so offices and schools stay open, but federal law asks the president to proclaim it each year and to call for the flag to fly on government buildings.

The answer to “when is Flag Day” is short because the date never moves. What changes is the weekday: June 14 fell on a Saturday in 2025, a Sunday in 2026, and will be a Monday in 2027. The table below shows the weekday for every year from 1990 to 2035.

What Flag Day Commemorates

The anniversary behind Flag Day is a single sentence in the journal of the Continental Congress. On June 14, 1777, Congress resolved that the flag would be thirteen stripes, alternating red and white, with thirteen white stars on a blue field “representing a new constellation.”

That resolution was brief. It said nothing about how the stars should be arranged, how big the flag should be, or what shade of red and blue to use. Flag makers filled the gap with circles, rows and other patterns, which is why early American flags vary so much. The design has changed many times since as stars were added for new states, but the June 14 vote is the starting point that Flag Day honors.

June 14 carries a second military anniversary. The Continental Congress created the Army on June 14, 1775, exactly two years before the flag resolution, and Army posts often hold birthday and Flag Day ceremonies together.

Flag Day History: From a Wisconsin Classroom to an Act of Congress

Flag Day grew from the ground up. Teachers and civic groups held June 14 observances for three decades before any president acted.

Bernard Cigrand and the 1885 observance

The best-known early observance took place at Stony Hill School near Waubeka, in the town of Fredonia, Wisconsin. On June 14, 1885, the teenage schoolteacher Bernard J. Cigrand had his students mark what he called the flag’s birthday, with a small flag on his desk and essays about its meaning. Cigrand later moved to Chicago, became a dentist, and spent much of his life writing and speaking in favor of a national Flag Day. He died in 1932, after Wilson’s proclamation but before Congress made the day official.

New York, Philadelphia and Chicago

The idea spread in several cities at once:

• 1889: George Balch, a kindergarten teacher in New York City, planned Flag Day ceremonies for his pupils. The New York State Board of Education later adopted the idea.
• 1891: The Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia held a Flag Day celebration.
• 1893: On April 25 the Pennsylvania Society of the Colonial Dames of America asked the mayor of Philadelphia and private citizens to display the flag on June 14. That June, Philadelphia’s school superintendent, Dr. Edward Brooks, held Flag Day exercises for students in Independence Square.
• 1894: Chicago held a public school Flag Day in several parks, with more than 300,000 children taking part.

Wilson’s 1916 proclamation and Truman’s 1949 law

President Woodrow Wilson issued Proclamation 1335 on May 30, 1916, asking that June 14 be observed as Flag Day across the country. That made the day national, but a proclamation is a presidential request, not a law, and later observances depended on presidents and local groups choosing to continue it.

Congress settled the question in 1949. President Harry S. Truman signed an act on August 3, 1949, designating June 14 of each year as Flag Day. The provision is now 36 U.S.C. 110, which states that “June 14 is Flag Day” and requests a yearly presidential proclamation.

In 1966 Congress added National Flag Week. A joint resolution approved June 9, 1966, asked the president to proclaim the week containing June 14 each year, and President Lyndon B. Johnson’s first proclamation named the week beginning June 12, 1966. Presidents have issued a combined Flag Day and National Flag Week proclamation ever since.

How the Flag Day Date Works

The rule is simple: June 14, whatever the weekday. Because Flag Day is not a federal holiday, the Saturday and Sunday substitution used for days like Independence Day does not apply. When June 14 lands on a weekend there is no Friday or Monday “observed” date, though towns sometimes schedule parades for the nearest Saturday.

National Flag Week follows June 14 around the calendar. In years when June 14 is a Sunday, as in 2026, the week runs Sunday through Saturday starting on Flag Day itself. When June 14 is a Saturday, as in 2025, Flag Day closes out the week instead.

Flag Day also sits close to Father’s Day, the third Sunday in June. Father’s Day can fall from June 15 to June 21, so it always comes after Flag Day, sometimes by just one day. To check the weekday of June 14 in any other year, the day of the week calculator works for any date.

How Americans Observe Flag Day

Most observances are simple and local:

• Flying the flag. The federal flag code lists Flag Day among the days when the flag should especially be displayed, and the annual proclamation asks federal officials to fly it on government buildings.
• The Pause for the Pledge. Many communities recite the Pledge of Allegiance together on the evening of June 14 as part of a national pause that began in Baltimore. The national ceremony is usually held at Fort McHenry, the fort whose flag inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
• Retiring worn flags. American Legion posts, Scout troops and veterans groups often hold ceremonies on or near June 14 to retire faded or torn flags respectfully.
• Army birthday events. Military installations frequently combine Flag Day with the Army’s June 14 birthday.

Regional Traditions and Flag Day Parades

Pennsylvania treats Flag Day more seriously than any other state. It became the first state to make June 14 a legal holiday in 1937, and fact-checks citing the Department of Veterans Affairs describe it as the only one. In practice it remains a commemorative day, and most businesses stay open.

Wisconsin claims the holiday’s birthplace. The restored Stony Hill School and the National Flag Day Foundation in Waubeka keep Cigrand’s story alive with an annual observance.

Several towns compete over parade bragging rights, and their claims overlap. Fairfield, Washington, says it has held a Flag Day parade almost every year since about 1909 or 1910. Quincy, Massachusetts, has run one since 1952, and Appleton, Wisconsin, since 1950. Troy, New York, began a large parade in 1967 that ran for fifty years before ending after 2017. Treat any “oldest” or “largest” title as a local claim rather than a settled record.

Verified Facts About Flag Day

• The 1777 resolution set no star pattern. The familiar circle of stars on many “Betsy Ross” flags is one of many layouts used at the time.
• Flag Day predates its law by decades. June 14 observances ran from 1885 to 1949 without a permanent federal statute behind them.
• Wilson’s proclamation came before Truman’s law. The 1916 proclamation made Flag Day national for that year; the 1949 act made it permanent.
• There are two federal designations. Flag Day (36 U.S.C. 110) and National Flag Week are separate, and the president proclaims both.
• It is still a working day. Flag Day has never appeared on the list of federal holidays explained in our guide to US federal holidays.

How Flag Day Has Changed

Flag Day began as a school exercise: children writing essays, singing and saluting. In the 1890s and early 1900s it became a civic event run by patriotic societies, fraternal lodges and city schools. After 1949 it settled into its current form, a fixed national observance marked mostly by flag displays, short ceremonies and presidential proclamations.

Because Flag Day falls in mid-June, after most schools have let out, classroom observances are less common than they were in Cigrand’s day. Community parades and veterans groups now carry most of the tradition. The date itself has stayed the same for more than a century, so finding Flag Day on any past calendar, such as the 2027 calendar or the 1999 calendar, only means looking up June 14.