2 days ago
What is flag day? How we celebrate in WA
SEATTLE - Flag Day is celebrated on June 14 every year. The holiday was established to commemorate the date the United States approved the first design for the national flag. The first version of the flag was approved in 1777.
There are specific ways here at home in Washington state we mark Flag Day. The Washington legislature passed a law in 2012 that the POW/MIA flag is to be flown along with the state and national flags.
In addition to Flag Day, the POW/MIA flag is ordered to fly on the following days:
Armed Forces Day on the third Saturday in May
Memorial Day on the last Monday in May
Independence Day on July 4
National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day on July 27
National POW/MIA Recognition Day on the third Friday in September
Veterans Day on November 11
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day on December 7
The origin of the flag dates back to the 1970s. "In 1971, Mrs. Michael Hoff, the wife of a U.S. military officer listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War, developed the idea for a national flag to remind every American of the U.S. servicemembers whose fates were never accounted for during the war," according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Dig deeper
In March 2025, the mayor of Newscastle, Washington clashed with an LGBTQ activist over the decision to fly the POW/MIA flag while revoking approval to fly the pride flag during pride month last year.
This year, new rules provided guidance for how different flags can be flown at official buildings in Tacoma.
The Source
Information in this story came from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Office of Washington Governor Bob Ferguson.
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