Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States which occurred on June 14, 1777, by a resolution adopted by the Second Continental Congress. It also marks the birthday of the U.S. Army which congress authorized as “the American Continental Army” on June 14, 1775.
The first public celebration was in Hartford, Conn., during the first summer of 1861. In the late 1800s, schools all over the United States held Flag Day programs to contribute to the Americanization of immigrant children, and the observance caught on with individual communities.
The American flag has been a poignant symbol for artists since our nation’s founding. For many, it has been a way of rousing national pride and speaking to the country’s resistance in the face of adversity.
For others, it has been a means of critiquing the nation during times of war and a way of pointing out longstanding histories of colonialism, racism, sexism, and homophobia that are still unfolding.
These are just a few of the many images of the Flag in American Art.
