In-mid June, Princeton honored the adoption of the American flag with an annual Flag Day ceremony.
The Spirit of Princeton, a nonprofit and nonpartisan community committee, sponsors Princeton’s Flag Day ceremony, which was held this year on June 13 on the plaza at the Princeton Municipal Complex, a day before the national Flag Day on June 14.
“It is important to remember these traditions because we all get busy,” said Kam Amirzafari, co-chair for the Spirit of Princeton. “It is important to just still remember the flag and the symbolism of it.
“If you serve in the military, the flag is like honor and there is a whole process on how to take the flag apart. These kinds of events are important to commemorate what (the flag) symbolizes.”
Flag Day is a holiday that commemorates the adoption of the Unites States national flag, which was approved by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777.
President Woodrow Wilson established a national Flag Day for June 14 in 1916. However, Congress officially established June 14 as the national date for Flag Day, which was signed into law by President Harry Truman in 1949.
U.S. Marine Corps veteran Jason Mangone was the keynote speaker at the Spirit of Princeton’s annual Flag Day ceremony.
Mangone served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2006 to 2010.
“When we look at our flag and feel pride, I think that pride comes from a couple of places,” he relayed. “There is a generalized pride that makes us proud of our country’s achievements many of which are connected to Princeton.
“Victories in war that cemented our national experiment in self-governance. A Civil Rights movement that brought us closer to our founding ideals. Scientific breakthroughs that have extended the frontiers of human capacity. I like to think of this as pride in the stars and stripes.”
Mangone added that there is an even more specific pride within each individual and family … “the stitching holding everything together.”
“…Re-mending the flag I think is less a matter of stars and stripes and more a matter of the stitching,” he said.
Mangone asked those in attendance to use Flag Day this year to think of their own stitching and help their children look closely enough to see how vital those threads are.
After his keynote address, he helped retire old and worn American flags as they were respectfully burned. The burning is a traditional way of disposing and retiring American flags.
On July 8, Mercer County is holding a Flag Retirement Ceremony at 6 p.m. at Hamilton Veterans Park (Klockner Road Entrance). This solemn event is a chance to properly retire worn or damaged American flags with the respect they deserve.
Drop-off locations for flags are listed throughout the county including the McDade Administration Building in Trenton, Mercer County Connection in Hamilton, Mercer County Library, Lawrence Headquarters Branch in Lawrence and Mercer County Office Park in Ewing.
Annual Spirit of Princeton Flag Day ceremony at the Princeton Municipal Complex on June 13.
Jason Mangone (center), a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, delivers the keynote address during the Flag Day ceremony.
Jason Mangone (right) helps retire American flags.
