50 Flag Day Quotes Celebrating National Pride

By Clifton Sankofa | Published January 30, 2023

Check out our exciting Flag Day quotes and content to learn more about a uniquely American holiday.

Flag Day is a holiday that took one hundred years to happen.

What is Flag Day in the United States?

The story goes back to the American Revolutionary War, which broke out in 1775.

Before we get into the history of Flag Day, check out these interesting Flag Day facts:

US Flag Codes determine flag placement.
Many associate Betsy Ross as the designer of the American flag.
New Jersey delegate Francis Hopkinson designed the American flag.

The newly appointed American colonists were fighting against the Imperial British Crown, but the colonists were not unified under a single flag as a new nation.

Most of the battles took place with regiments fighting under their own flags.

In June of 1775, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadephia, Pennsylvania, to discuss the creation of the first unified Continental Army.

Prior to this, soldiers battled for independence, but they were not a unified fighting force.

George Washington and other leadership members felt their battle efforts would be more organized under a unified flag.

The first American flag created was the Continental flag, which consisted of 13 red and white alternating stripes with a Union Jack in the corner.

However, the Union Jack is the symbol of the British flag.

Washington knew that flying a flag that was even slightly similar to the British flag was not good for the morale and confidence of his troops.

He and others put their energy into creating a unique American flag to unite the country and its troops.

When did Flag Day become a holiday?

By the time June 14, 1777, Congress passed a resolution creating the new flag of the United States.

Over time, many designs and iterations of the American flag were designed, but many were rejected, never getting officially accepted.

Over one hundred years passed until President Woodrow Wilson marked the first anniversary of Congress’ flag decree.

He officially established June 14 as Flag Day in the United States of America.

For more awesome Flag Day quotes, check out our content below.

Short Flag Day quotes about pride and freedom

These quotes get right to the point about how flags instill pride.

1. “I can’t tell people what flag to fly.” — Lesley Stahl

2. “Many a bum show has been saved by the flag.” — George M. Cohan

3. “I am my own home, and my handkerchief is my flag.” — Reinhold Messner

4. “I am not the flag: not at all. I am but its shadow.” — Franklin Knight Lane

5. “I’m very square and proud of it. The flag stays on the porch here.” — Garth Brooks

6. “I carry the flag of Ireland all the time. I want to represent my country.” — Conor McGregor

7. “The American flag is the symbol of our freedom, national pride, and history.” — Mike Fitzpatrick

8. “There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.” — Howard Zinn

9. “I don’t judge others. I say if you feel good with what you’re doing, let your freak flag fly.” — Sarah Jessica Parker

10. “The reason the rainbow flag endures is because people own it. It means something to them.” — Gilbert Baker

You will also enjoy our article on country quotes.

Insightful Flag Day quotes and sayings

People have mixed emotions about saluting the flag, and these quotes honor all of those perspectives.

11. “There is much more to being a patriot and a citizen than reciting the pledge or raising a flag.” — Jesse Ventura

12. “Our flag is our identity, and we can’t disrespect or let anyone else disrespect our identity.” — Gautam Gambhir

13. “I believe that movements to suppress wrongs can be carried out under the protection of our flag.” — Mary Harris Jones

14. “The victory march will continue until the Palestinian flag flies in Jerusalem and in all of Palestine.” — Yasser Arafat

15. “To survive in peace and harmony, united and strong, we must have one people, one nation, one flag.” — Pauline Hanson

16. “Our flag is not just one of many political points of view. Rather, the flag is a symbol of our national unity.” — Adrian Cronauer

17. “A flag appears ‘mid thunderous cheers, The banner of the Western land. The emblem of the brave and true.” — John Philip Sousa

18. “Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” — H. L. Mencken

19. “Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong.” — James Bryce

20. “White collar conservative flashin down the street, pointing that plastic finger at me, they all assume my kind will drop and die, but I’m gonna wave my freak flag high.” — Jimi Hendrix

Poetic Flag Day quotes about life

These quotes remind us how flags communicate poetic ideas and pride.

21. “On what rests the hope of the republic? One country, one language, one flag!” — Alexander Henry

22. “Every red stripe in that flag represents the black man’s blood that has been shed.” — Fannie Lou Hamer

23. “I was in high school when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru unfurled India’s flag in New Delhi.” — A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

24. “The Internet carries the flag of being subversive and possibly rebellious and chaotic, nihilistic.” — David Bowie

25. “I can’t fly a flag for monogamy or whatever the opposite is; it depends on the person and on the situation.” — Sting

26. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” — Colin Kaepernick

27. “Let it be borne on the flag under which we rally in every exigency, that we have one country, one constitution, one destiny.” — Daniel Webster

28. “I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a black man in a white world. In 1972, in 1947, at my birth in 1919, I know that I never had it made.” — Jackie Robinson

29. “Standing as I do, with my hand upon this staff, and under the folds of the American flag, I ask you to stand by me so long as I stand by it.” — Abraham Lincoln

30. “I believe a real democracy can only flourish when you have your own nation-state, your own identity, even your own flag you can rally around.” — Geert Wilders

Flag Day quotes about community and country

These quotes inspire us to be proud of where we originate.

31. “If you want a symbolic gesture, don’t burn the flag; wash it.” — Norman Thomas

32. “The fact that I contributed to planting our flag and moving music to my city, that’s what I’m most proud of.” — T.I.

33. “I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty and freedom.” — John Thune

34. “I stand fearlessly for small dogs, the American Flag, motherhood, and the Bible. That’s why people love me.” — Art Linkletter

35. “I’m proud of the U.S.A. We’ve done some amazing things. To wear our flag in the Olympics is an honor.” — Shaun White

36. “Worrying that banning flag desecration would inhibit free speech reveals a misunderstanding of the flag’s fundamental nature.” — Adrian Cronauer

37. “If I were a Negro, I’d be fighting, as Martin Luther King fought, for human recognition and justice. I’d rather go down with my flag flying.” — Abraham Maslow

38. “Being a Puerto Rican artist, I support all kinds of projects that are developed on my beautiful island that in some way or another put our Puerto Rican flag up.” — Bad Bunny

39. “I’m in love with red. I think it’s such a passionate color. Every flag of every country pretty much has red in it. It’s power; there’s no fence sitting with red. Either you love it, or you don’t.” — Bryan Batt

40. “I decided that we should have a flag, that a flag fit us as a symbol, that we are a people, a tribe if you will. And flags are about proclaiming power, so it’s very appropriate.” — Gilbert Baker

Inspirational Flag Day quotes about flag waving

Get your pride up with these exciting quotes about waving flags.

41. “We identify the flag with almost everything we hold dear on earth, peace, security, liberty, our family, our friends, our home.” — Calvin Coolidge

42. “The flag of the United States has not been created by rhetorical sentences in declarations of independence and in bills of rights.” — Woodrow Wilson

43. “Our flag means all that our fathers meant in the revolutionary War. It means all that the Declaration of Independence meant. It means justice.” — Henry Ward Beecher

44. “I’m not somebody that just wants to hold up a white flag and say, ‘Let’s all just get along.’ I think people that do horrible things should be held accountable.” — Angelina Jolie

45. “America has been the country of my fond election from the age of thirteen when I first saw it. I had the honor to hoist with my own hands the flag of freedom, the first time it was displayed.” — John Paul Jones

46. “When we look at our flag and behold it emblazoned with all our rights, we must remember that it is equally a symbol of our duties. Every glory that we associate with it is the result of duty done.” — Calvin Coolidge

47. “Rock n’ roll is our religion, and we will continue to lose disciples as we go, but we pick up the fallen flag and keep moving forward, bringing forth the good news that our heroes have helped create, their bodies lost, but their spirits and their good work everlasting.” — Steven Van Zandt

48. “If I have an accountant that just reports I just invested $10 million in my business, and he doesn’t exactly itemize where every cost goes, it gives a flag to the government. They want to make sure that the reason I’m not paying taxes is because I’m reinvesting in these businesses and not trying to hide stuff.” — Damon Dash

49. “If the Jews had issues with the Polish people, then why, during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, did the Jewish underground hang two flags from the bunker — the Polish flag and the flag of the Jewish people? Why? They did it because they felt part of Polish society, and that is how we view them as well.” — Andrzej Duda

50. “I see Americans of every party, every background, every faith who believe that we are stronger together: black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American; young, old; gay, straight; men, women, folks with disabilities, all pledging allegiance under the same proud flag to this big, bold country that we love. That’s what I see. That’s the America I know!” — Barack Obama