妙子的故鄉翦影

在聽NPR（National Public Radio）的時候，才知道，原來今日六月十四日正是美國的國旗日。很特別吧，居然有一個日子是專門為一面旗子所設立，充份表現出美國人愛它「愛到最高點」的愛國情操。

這個美國國旗日的設立，意在表達美國人對星條旗本身(註1)、設計者(註2)、及製作者(註3)的慶祝及尊敬。自星條旗出現的兩百年以來，它成為美國人希望與驕傲的象徵，代表著國家的獨立自主及一體性。這一面激勵美國民心士氣的旗子，不但在大大小小的爭戰與困難中引領著美國人，更曾驕傲地站在月球表面，讓美國人的愛國情操表現到最高點。

根據美國國會在1949年的決議，每年的六月十四日為國旗日(Flag Day)；在1966年的決議，每年六月十四日那一週為國旗周(National Flag Week)。所以美國總統每年此時，都會宣布國旗周的開始、要求聯邦政府機構懸掛國旗、及呼籲民眾以懸掛國旗的方式注重國旗日及國旗周。國旗日與國旗周的制定，不但提醒民眾表達對國家的敬意，同時也讓民眾藉此機會公開慶祝過去的光榮與省視自身對國家的忠誠。

看看美國的國旗日，再回頭想想台灣的國旗。到現在為止，那面青天白日滿地紅的旗子所帶來的，只是諸多的複雜情緒。有人誓死捍衛，有人漠不關心；有人愛不釋手，有人嗤之以鼻；有人當作愛國象徵，有人視為暴政恥辱。一個原本具有中性意義的旗子，在歷史、教育、政治、意識形態等影響之下，其地位變得撲朔迷離。

何時，台灣人才能擁有一面全體認同的國旗，讓台灣人驕傲地拿著它，盡情地揮舞在世界各角落。

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註(1) Flag Day and National Flag Week, 2005
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution stating that "the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field." As States have been added to the Union, the flag has been modified to reflect their addition to our Nation. Today, the appearance of our flag is based on President Eisenhower's Executive Order of August 21, 1959, to include a star for all 50 States together with 13 stripes representing the original 13 American colonies.

註(2) &註 (3)
No one knows with absolute certainty who designed the first stars and stripes or who made it. Congressman Francis Hopkinson seems most likely to have designed it, and few historians believe that Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress, made the first one.

。Inspired by the British bombardment of Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key penned the lyrics to our national anthem as he witnessed the event as British rockets whizzed in the air while our American Flag flew in the breeze.
。Betsy Ross was a seamstress who made clothes for George Washington. In June, 1776, Washington approached her to make the country's first flag and the rest is history.

What do the colors of the Flag mean?
Also this from a book about the flag published in 1977 by the House of Representatives...
"The star is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun."

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