Colorado statehood day, August 1, 2018

July 31, 2019

From the Walking Tourists, a photograph of a U.S. flag near Colorado Springs, with Pikes Peak in the background. A view from the top of Pikes Peak inspired Kathryn Lee Bates to write a poem, “America the Beautiful.”

Colorado officially joined the Union on August 1, 1876.

Coloradans should fly U.S. flags today in honor of statehood. Colorado was the 38th state admitted to the union.

U.S. and Colorado flags fluttering together.

3 Comments | Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, History, Statehood | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

August 2019: Unfurl Old Glory on these days

July 31, 2019

Maybe a more appropriate flag picture for July? One of my favorites from the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. – Neil Alden Armstrong  / By Louis S. Glanzman / Acrylic and casein on Masonite, 1969 / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

August in the U.S. is a lazy, often hot, summer month. It’s a month for vacation, picnicking, local baseball games, camping, cookouts and beach vacations. It’s not a big month for events to fly the U.S. flag.

Except, perhaps, in Olympics years, when the U.S. flag is often flown a lot, in distant locations. About 50 percent of photographs of the U.S. flag flying in August features an American Olympic athlete. 2019 is not an Olympics year.

Only one event calls for nation-wide flag-flying in August, National Aviation Day on August 19. This event is not specified in the Flag Code, but in a separate provision in the same chapter U.S. Code. Will the president issue a proclamation to fly the flag for National Aviation Day?

Three states celebrate statehood, Colorado, Hawaii and Missouri.

Put these dates on your calendar to fly the flag in August:

  • August 1, Colorado statehood (1876, 38th state)
  • August 10, Missouri statehood (1821, 24th state)
  • August 19, National Aviation Day, 36 USC 1 § 118
  • August 21, Hawaii statehood (1959, 50th state)

If Texans want to fly their flags for the children’s returning to school on August 18, no one will complain. The Flag Code says all public schools should be flying the U.S. flag every school day — check to be sure your child’s schools do that.

You may fly your U.S. flag any day. These are just the days suggested in law.

More:

Leave a Comment » | Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, History, Statehood, U.S. Flag | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell