Proclamation 3916—Flag Day and National Flag Week, 1969

It has become customary when referring to the flag of the United States of America to concentrate on what it represents. Every American has pledged allegiance to the flag "and to the Republic for which it stands." From time to time, however, it is necessary to remind ourselves not only of what the flag stands for but of what it is.

Our flag is a fragile but infinitely strong piece of cloth. What that piece of cloth stands for we all know. What we sometimes forget, however, is that it is precisely because those things which the flag represents are intangible that we need a flag at all. A flag is meant to be seen. Only when it is displayed does it stir us. Our ideals we can honor with our words and deeds; our flag must be honored by an essentially spiritual reaction to a visual stimulus.

On June 14, 1777, the Congress delineated the present form of the flag. These men gave it form; we give it life by displaying it, honoring it, and meditating on those qualities and attributes it so beautifully and proudly symbolizes.

In commemoration of the adoption of our flag, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved 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; by a joint resolution approved June 9, 1966 (80 Stat. 194), the Congress has requested the President to issue annually a proclamation designating the week in which June 14 occurs as National Flag Week and calling upon all citizens to display the flag of the United States on those days.

Now, Therefore, I, Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate the week beginning June 8, 1969, as National Flag Week, and I direct the appropriate Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings during that week.

I also request the people of the United States to observe Flag Day, June 14, and Flag Week by flying the Stars and Stripes at their homes and other suitable places.

I urge the press, radio, television, and other information media to join in this observance and to promote continuing awareness of our flag and a rededication to the principles which it symbolizes.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred sixty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-third.

RICHARD NIXON