Elks to host annual Flag Day ceremony

Submitted information

All citizens are encouraged to attend the annual Flag Day Services which will be held two days prior to Flag Day, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, in the Elks Lodge Home.

The annual event is sponsored by the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Also participating will be the Boy Scouts of America.

Flag Day, celebrated each June 14 as specified by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, honors the creation of the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States. Flag Day did not become formally recognized until President Truman, himself an Elk, signed the resolution in 1949 declaring Flag Day an official national holiday.

The continental Congress adopted the design of the Stars and Stripes on June 14, 1777, resolving that “The flag of the United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white on a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

The Elks is the first and only fraternal organization to mandate that on June 14 every year, each lodge must conduct a solemn and beautiful Flag Day ceremony. This ceremony is open to the public so the Elks can show hoq rhwy honor our flag and all it represents.

Lynne Etling, Exalted Ruler of Van Wert Elks Lodge No. 1197, encourages all citizens to attend the lodge’s Flag Day ceremony and demonstrate their love of flag and county. All citizens are asked to proudly display the flag on Flag Day.