MICHIGAN SENATE
Offered by Senators Barrett and Bizon
A RESOLUTION TO RECOGNIZE JUNE 14, 2022, AS FLAG DAY AND THE COMMEMORATION OF THE 68TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADDITION
OF THE WORDS “UNDER GOD” TO THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
WHEREAS, On June 14, 1777, the United States Second Continental Congress resolved, “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”; and
WHEREAS, President Woodrow Wilson first established June 14, 1916 as Flag Day. President Calvin Coolidge also did the same in 1927. In 1949, President Harry Truman officially designated June 14th as Flag Day in the United States; and
WHEREAS, President Abraham Lincoln first said the phrase “nation, under God,” in the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery; and
WHEREAS, President Lincoln said, “It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”; and
WHEREAS, On April 20, 1953, Michigan Congressman Louis C. Rabaut introduced House Joint Resolution (HJR) 243 to amend the Pledge of Allegiance, stating “By the addition of the phrase “under God” to the pledge, the consciousness of the American people will be more alerted to the true meaning of our country and its form of government. More importantly, the children of our land, in the daily recitation of the pledge in school, will be daily impressed with a true understanding of our way of life and its origins”; and
WHEREAS, On June 14, 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower signed HJR 243, marking this year as the 68th anniversary; and
WHEREAS, These words were first recited within the Pledge of Allegiance by the Knights of Columbus in 1951 at the opening of their meetings; and
WHEREAS, We honor the Michigan Congressional members who put forth this legislation that instilled the importance of these words in our great nation’s Pledge of Allegiance; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the members of this legislative body recognize June 14, 2022, as Flag Day and the commemoration of the 68th anniversary of the addition of the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.
Adopted by the Senate, June 14, 2022.
Secretary of the Senate