June 14, 2024

Manchin Statement Commemorating Flag Day

Charleston, WV – Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV) released the following statement and poem commemorating Flag Day.

“Every day, Americans across the country pledge their allegiance to the flag, which serves as a symbol of our founding history and the fundamental rights of freedom, liberty, and opportunity for all. Today, we remember and honor the date in 1777 when the Continental Congress officially adopted the Stars and Stripes as the symbol of America. Though the flag has changed greatly since that momentous date, it remains a constant symbol of the values we hold so deeply as Americans. We salute it; we fight for it; we cherish it; we honor it and every year on June 14, we come together to celebrate it.”

“When I was a child, my Uncle Jimmy taught me a poem I think captures how the flag represents us as Americans:

It’s only some stripes of red and white.
It’s only some stars on a field of blue.
It’s only a little cotton flag.
Does it mean anything to you?
Oh yes it does,
For beneath its folds
Our people are safe at land and sea.
It stands for a land where God is still King,
And His truth and His freedoms are free.
So let us love it well
And keep it pure as our banner of liberty.

“Today and every day, I invite my fellow West Virginians and Americans to join me in paying tribute to our flag and reflecting on the ideals upon which our great nation was founded.”