Proclamation 4660

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

Two years after the Battle of Bunker Hill, on June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress chose a flag which tellingly expressed the unity and resolve of Colonials who had banded together to seek independence. The delegates voted "that the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field representing a new constellation."

With the addition of thirty-seven stars, and after more than two centuries of history, the flag chosen by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia is our flag today, symbolizing a shared commitment to freedom and equality.

To commemorate the adoption of our flag, the Congress, by a joint resolution of August 3, 1949 (63 Stat. 492), designated June 14 of each year as Flag Day and requested the President to issue annually a proclamation calling for its observance. The Congress also requested the President, by joint resolution of June 9, 1966 (80 Stat. 194), to issue annually a proclamation designating the week in which June 14 occurs as National Flag Week and to call upon all citizens of the United States to display the flag of the United States on those days.

To focus the attention of the American people on their country's character, heritage and future well-being, the Congress has also, by joint resolution of June 13, 1975, set aside the 21 days from Flag Day through Independence Day as a period to honor America (89 Stat. 211 ).

Now, THEREFORE, I, JIMMY CARTER, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate the week beginning June 10, 1979, as National Flag Week, and I direct the appropriate officials of the Government to display the flag on all Government buildings during the week. I urge all Americans to observe Flag Day, June 14, and Flag Week by flying the Stars and Stripes from their homes and other suitable places.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and third.

JIMMY CARTER

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:05 a.m., May 8, 1979]