Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 106 Part 6.djvu/727

 PROCLAMATION 6444—JUNE 10, 1992 106 STAT. 5285 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 4 day of ^ June, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and sixteenth. GEORGE BUSH Proclamation 6444 of June 10, 1992 Flag Day and National Flag Week, 1992 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation "I have seen the glories of art and architecture," said Senator George Frisbie Hoar over a century ago, "... and the full moon rise over Mont Blanc; but the fairest vision on which these eyes ever looked was the flag of my country in a foreign land." As the great emblem of the United States, the Stars and Stripes has symbolized freedom and security to millions of people around the world. To the U.S. citizen abroad. Old Glory has offered comfort and reassurance, calling to mind the love of liberty that unites all Americans, wherever we may be. To the service member standing watch at some distant, lonely post, the flag has recalled the pride and support of our Nation—as well as the example of earlier patriots who likewise labored and sacriflced in the defense of liberty. While the flag has inspired deeper feelings of patriotism and duty among generations of Americans, it has also moved the hearts of countless other peoples, who have seen in its bright hues and gentle folds the shining promise of freedom—and the character of a Nation whose might and strength have been devoted to the service of justice and humanity. Generations of American children have learned to show respect for the flag by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, which is 100 years old this year. As we celebrate the centennial of this simple yet stirring promise, we know that it is much, much more than a mnemonic verse for school boys and girls. Rather, it is—as its author, Francis Bellamy, had hoped it would be—an ageless creed that embodies "the frmdamental idea of patriotic citizenship, comprehending in broadest lines the spirit of our history and the deepest aim of our National life." When we recite the Pledge and promise our allegiance to this "one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all," we reaffirm both the unity of our people and what President Eisenhower aptly described as "the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future." As the Pledge of Allegiance states so eloquently, we Americans believe in Almighty God, the Source of all life and liberty; we believe in the inherent and unalienable rights and dignity of each human being; and we believe in equal opportunity, as well as equal protection of the law, for every citizen. Those are the convictions embodied by our flag, and those are the convictions that must ever be our guide, our hope, and our example to the world. To commemorate the adoption of our flag, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved August 3, 1949 (63 Stat. 492), designated June 14 of

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