By Brendan Henry
The Surveyor

June 14, 1777, marked the day that the Continental Congress approved the national flag design. Since then, the only changes to the flag have been the number of stars added to represent each state in the union. Former President Woodrow Wilson declared in 1916 that June 14 would be Flag Day, the day to celebrate the flag that we have all grown familiar with.

The American flag has become iconic in many ways, finding itself waving above Fort McHenry in Baltimore during a wild British bombardment that would inspire the writing of the Star Spangled Banner, being hoisted by American Marines during the battle of Iwo Jima and it can be found in just about every classroom in America. No flag has held more weight in the modern world than that of the stars and stripes.

Iconography aside, Flag Day makes you think about what it means to be American. The day to celebrate the flag comes around a couple of weeks before the big day to light off fireworks and eat all the burgers and hotdogs you can at a barbeque, but that day is more about enjoying the fun and basking in the pride of being a citizen of the free world. Flag Day is the perfect opportunity to think about what being an American is without all of the distractions.

Everyone has their gripes and complaints about America’s issues and how they feel America should be. These may be warranted, yet many of us fail to truly look past our own nation’s issues to compare them to what others are going through. We do not have to worry about mortar rounds collapsing our homes or bullets whizzing by our heads as we try to go about our business. Cartels and mafiosos do not control our police and politicians.

Our democratic society allows for the people to decide who represents them which is a luxury that not every country has. A constitution gives us certain rights that leaders of other countries have stripped away from their people.

To compare our country to others, we have it pretty good.

Even with our gripes and complaints regarding our country and the perception of a “divided” America, we all hold these beliefs because we want what is best for the country and our flag. While there may be division on different issues in the country, the flag still waves over all of us.

As an Air Force veteran, I served to protect those that carry all sorts of opinions and philosophies. One of the greatest things about our country is the ability to speak freely and the liberty to have ever-expanding diversity in life views.

There is beauty in the fact that no matter what we believe, we are all still represented by Old Glory. Political affiliation, social and economic class may impact how we carry ourselves in our daily lives but at the end of the day, we are all still American. Often we forget in the flurry of different beliefs that we are ultimately united under the flag. This coming Flag Day should be a day to reflect and carry these reflections into our daily lives.