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Americans Honor Flag Day

VOA News

   Sunday is Flag Day in the United States, an unofficial holiday
   commemorating the adoption of the American flag 243 years ago by the
   Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777.

   While the day passes without many Americans realizing its significance,
   some residents proudly display the stars-and-stripes outside their
   homes.

   The U.S. flag has gone through many iterations over the years, with
   Congress ordering changes in its design up until 1960, including the
   addition of stars whenever a new state joined the union.

   Today's flag has 13 horizontal stripes, representing the original 13
   colonies and 50 stars representing the 50 states.

   First U.S. President George Washington described the flag: "We take the
   stars from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by
   white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her. And the
   white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty."

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