Flag Day and National Flag Week, 2023, 38737-38738 [2023-12818]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 114 (Wednesday, June 14, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 38737-38738]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12818]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 114 / Wednesday, June 14, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 38737]]

                Proclamation 10595 of June 9, 2023

                
Flag Day and National Flag Week, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                On Flag Day and during National Flag Week, we celebrate 
                the enduring strength and promise that the stars and 
                stripes on our flag have always embodied as they fly 
                proudly across our country and around the world.

                Our flag tells America's story--the story of an ever-
                evolving Nation. Thirteen colonies joining together and 
                winning independence, forming a great Union of States 
                that has grown bigger and more just across 
                generations--a place where everyone is entitled to 
                certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, 
                and the pursuit of happiness. It is an emblem of our 
                strength at home and abroad, synonymous with America as 
                a force for good in the world. It has flown on 
                battlefields since the Revolution and reminded allies 
                and adversaries throughout the last century that the 
                darkness of autocracy is no match for the flame of 
                liberty. It flies over grand celebratory monuments, and 
                it accompanies headstones at sacred places like 
                Arlington National Cemetery, where Jill and I recently 
                paid tribute to the hundreds of thousands of brave 
                Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice for our 
                freedom and future, giving their lives so our Nation 
                might live. We honor their unbending sense of duty and 
                courage and remember their faith that we would be 
                worthy of their sacrifice.

                Old Glory stands for hope, pride, and progress. It is 
                stamped on our exports, hung from booming factories, 
                and painted on spacecraft that travel high above our 
                skies--a symbol of the American spirit that keeps 
                innovating, building, and breaking boundaries. It waves 
                for justice and equality. It adorns courtrooms and 
                classrooms. And it presides over free and fair 
                elections at polling places across the Nation, 
                reinforcing the promise of our democracy.

                Our flag embodies the very soul of America--a soul that 
                has endured because of sacrifices made by generations 
                of Americans, whose mission we must keep alive to 
                ensure democracy endures. The Stars and Stripes belongs 
                to all Americans and reminds us that much more unites 
                us than divides us. It flies proudly in small town 
                squares, on downtown skyscrapers, in high school gyms, 
                in our biggest sports stadiums, and on our military 
                bases. Wherever our flag is, it stands for freedom, 
                justice, and opportunity; it is a beacon of democracy 
                and the fundamental American promise that everyone is 
                created equal and united in pursuit of a more perfect 
                Union.

                To commemorate the adoption of our flag in 1777, the 
                Congress, by joint resolution approved on August 3, 
                1949, as amended (63 Stat. 492), designated June 14 of 
                each year as ``Flag Day'' and requested the President 
                issue an annual proclamation calling for its observance 
                and for the display of the flag of the United States on 
                all Federal Government buildings. The Congress also 
                requested, by joint resolution approved June 9, 1966, 
                as amended (80 Stat. 194), that the President issue 
                annually a proclamation designating the week in which 
                June 14 occurs as ``National Flag Week'' and calling 
                upon all citizens of the United States to display the 
                flag during that week.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 
                14, 2023, as Flag Day, and the week starting June 11, 
                2023, as National Flag Week. I direct the appropriate 
                officials to display the flag on all Federal Government 
                buildings during

[[Page 38738]]

                this week, and I urge all Americans to observe Flag Day 
                and National Flag Week by displaying the flag and 
                honoring all of our brave service members and revering 
                those who gave their last full measure of devotion 
                defending our freedoms. I encourage the people of the 
                United States to observe with pride and all due 
                ceremony those days from Flag Day through Independence 
                Day, set aside by the Congress (89 Stat. 211), as a 
                time to honor the American spirit, to celebrate our 
                history and the foundational values we strive to 
                uphold, and to publicly recite the Pledge of Allegiance 
                to the Flag of the United States of America.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand 
                twenty-three, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and forty-seventh.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2023-12818
Filed 6-13-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P