How reciting the Pledge of Allegiance became a sacred, patriotic ritual

The anniversary of the adoption of the U.S. flag is celebrated each year on June 14. tiaramaio/RooM via Getty images

The Continental Congress, the legislative body for the newly declared United States, adopted an official flag on June 14, 1777. The delegates resolved 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, representing a new constellation.”

In the early years of the nation, though, this flag rarely appeared except in government and military displays.