Flag Day Ceremony

Mon, 06/15/2026 - 7:25pm — Diane Dyer

The Butler County Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution hosted a Flag Day ceremony on Saturday, June 13, at the Butler County Courthouse lawn. Jennifer White, Flag Chairman, welcomed attendees and opened the event.

The General Richard Butler Chapter of KYSSAR presented the Colors, followed by an invocation from Chaplain Gail Gaddie.

After the Pledge of Allegiance, Georgia Harrison, Scarlett Fuller, Norah Lindsey, and, Embry Inman performed the National Anthem.

Speaker Allen White, WKU Retired Teacher: AP US History, Politics & Government, gave the following speech:

"Quickly approaching the 250th birthday of our great nation. It's a heartfelt privilege to stand before you today here in Morgantown, Kentucky, on hallowed ground by the spirit of independence and frontier resolve.

You continue a noble tradition as members of the Sons of the American Revolution. You are the living guardians of America's dawn.
Your chapters and the National Societies embody service, memory, and unwavering loyalty. Through historic preservation, you protect places where liberty took root.

Through education, you ensure that schoolchildren learn the true principles of our republic. Through scholarships, veterans' support, and community leadership, you strengthen the fabric of our nation every single day.

In an age that sometimes forgets its heroes, your work shines as a beacon. The Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution do not merely remember the past; they actively preserve it so that future generations may cherish and defend it.

For your dedication and tireless efforts, our citizenry is deeply grateful. Let us pause to honor the revolutionary patriots whose blood courses through the veins of every single daughter and son of an American Revolution member.

They were ordinary Americans. They were farmers, tradesmen, ministers, and mothers who supported the cause from home.

When King George's tyranny threatened their God-given rights, they chose courage over comfort. They left their fields untended, their shops closed, and their families vulnerable.

They endured the bitter winter at Valley Forge and the battlefields of Saratoga and Calpins, and the final triumph at Yorktown. Many paid the ultimate price to secure our freedom and our liberty.
They sacrificed their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. And through that sacrifice, they accomplished the miraculous: against the greatest empire on Earth at the time, they won independence.

And we are the beneficiaries of that move. They forged a new nation founded not on the divine right of kings, but on the truth that all men are created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights.

They gave us a constitution that has guided the freest, most prosperous, and most generous republic in human history. Their accomplishment was not just winning a war; it was birthing a revolutionary idea that people could govern themselves.

We stand on their shoulders. Every freedom we enjoy, every right we exercise, and every star on our flag traces back to their courage and their vision.
And that brings us to the sacred symbol that has flown over every chapter of our American history: the Stars and Stripes. The American flag is far more than fabric and color.
It is a covenant written in thread. It represents the unity, the purpose of our founders, and what they forged: the blood shed to secure liberty and the enduring promise that this republic, under God, shall not perish from the earth.
Its 13 stripes recall the original colonies that stood together in defiance of tyranny. Its stars stand for the union of states, each sovereign yet one people: red for valor, white for purity, blue for vigilance and justice.

When that flag passes by, we stand. We salute. We remember who we are and who we must remain. Allow me to share three little-known facts about Old Glory that deepen our appreciation for this cherished emblem.

First, when the Continental Congress passed the flag resolution in June 14, 1777, it specified that 13 stars and 13 stripes should be included on the flag, but it did not dictate the arrangement of the stars. Early flags featured many creative designs: some in circles, some in rows, some even in patterns echoing the British Union.
One of the most beautiful versions of the patterns is the perfect circle, symbolizing that in this new nation, no colony came first; every state was equal. Second, during the War of 1812, that flag flew over Fort McHenry and inspired Francis Scott Key's Star-Spangled Banner, which we just heard so eloquently presented.

It was a 15-star, 15-stripe flag reflecting the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the Union. That very flag, which braved the British bombardment through the night, still exists today in the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.

Kentucky's own star helped give birth to our national anthem under fire. Third, and especially inspiring for younger Americans, is the story of a high school student who helped give us the flag that we salute today.

In 1958, 17-year-old Robert G. Heft, known as Bob, of Lancaster, Ohio, was given a history class project to design a flag, being that we were about to see two new states, Hawaii and Alaska, join the Union.

Bob took his grandparents' 48-star flag, carefully cut out the blue canton, sewed 50 hand stars in the alternating pattern we now know so well: five rows of six stars alternating with four rows of five. Bob's teacher was less than enthused, and he received a B-plus, a B-minus, for his work.

Undeterred, Bob sent his homemade flag to his congressman, who then forwarded it to the White House. More than 1,000 designs were submitted, but President Dwight D. Eisenhower chose Bob's design. On July 4, 1960, a 50-star flag was officially raised for the first time.

President Eisenhower invited Bob to the White House to witness the ceremony. Now, about Bob's teacher.

Bob's teacher contacted him, even though it was two years after he had him in class, and Bob's teacher told him that he was going to change his grade to an A. America received a flag that has flown proudly for more than 65 years, thanks to Bob's work.

An ordinary teenager, through initiative and love of country, left his mark on our most important national symbol. These stories remind us that the flag belongs to all of us, from the patriots of 1776 to the defenders in Baltimore in 1814 to a determined high school boy in 1958, and to every American today who cherishes it.

Ladies and gentlemen of the DAR and SAR, you understand this inheritance better than most. Your lineage connects you directly to those who first raised the flag of liberty.

Your continued work, preserving history, teaching truth, sacrifice, instilling patriotism, ensures that the flame does not dim. So, as we depart from this gathering, renewed in our sacred duty, teach the rising generation the real story of America: the story of courage, sacrifice, and remarkable achievement.

You honor your revolutionary ancestors by living lives worthy of their legacy. And whenever you see the Stars and Stripes waving over the courthouse here in Morgantown, over a school, or over the graves of our veterans, let your hearts swell with gratitude and resolve.

May Almighty God continue to bless you, this chapter of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. May the same providence that guided Washington and protected the defenders at Fort McHenry watch over us today, and may we prove ourselves worthy of the precious gift of liberty purchased by the blood of our forefathers."

Bryan Pharris, of Granville Allen VFW Post 5837, read the poem “I Am The Flag”. Lynda O’Driscoll, Regent of the Butler County Chapter NSDAR, gave the closing remarks, and Elaine Daugherty, Chaplain of the Green River Chapter NSDAR, gave the benediction. The Boy Scouts Pack 208 assisted with the program.