Flag Day, commemorating the adoption of the U.S. flag celebrated in Waubeka

WAUBEKA — Flag Day is celebrated on June 14th — and it commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened on June 14th, 1777. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day — and Flag Day was celebrated in Ozaukee County on Sunday, June 13th.

Waubeka is the birthplace of Flag Day.

Working as a grade school teacher in Waubeka  in 1885, Bernard Cigrand held the first recognized formal observance of Flag Day at the Stony Hill School. The school has been restored, and a bust of Cigrand also honors him at the National Flag Day Americanism Center in Waubeka.

From the late 1880s on, Cigrand spoke around the country promoting patriotism, respect for the flag, and the need for the annual observance of a flag day on June 14, the day in 1777 that the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes.