Flag Day Decoded - with Bill Federer

Flag Day isn’t a modern, made-up observance. It reaches back to a wartime decision on June 14, 1777, when the Second Continental Congress chose a national flag in the middle of the American Revolution. We walk through that origin story, why Francis Hopkinson belongs in the center of it, and how the familiar Betsy Ross claim shows what happens when legend outruns documentation. If you care about American history, the founding era, and civic literacy, this timeline changes how you see the symbol flying outside your home, school, or church.

Our friend Bill Federer joins us to lay out the surprisingly clear chain from the flag to the Pledge of Allegiance: early drafts in the late 1800s, public school adoption, and Woodrow Wilson’s 1916 declaration of National Flag Day. We also dig into presidential language around faith and freedom, including how leaders framed liberty of conscience and religious liberty as core American principles rather than optional extras.

Then we tackle the Cold War turning point: the 1954 addition of “one nation under God,” the role of the Knights of Columbus, and the story of a pastor who challenged President Eisenhower with a simple question, what truly makes America different from regimes that can mouth the same words about “liberty and justice.” We connect that to a bigger conversation about where rights come from, what happens when a nation forgets its past, and why education shapes culture. If this helped you, subscribe, share it for Flag Day, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Transcript

Rick Green [00:00:07] Welcome to the intersection of faith and culture. It's the WallBuilders Show, taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective. Rick Green with David Barton and Tim Barton, our websites, wallbuilders.com and wallbuilders.show. Wallbuilders.com for virtually everything except the radio program, which you get over at wallbuilders.show, super easy to share with your friends and family and make sure that they're getting this good information as well, a lot going on as usual this upcoming weekend. Of course, more 250th activities. The White House will be abuzz with the UFC fights and a lot of other things going on in DC, but it'll also be Flag Day on Sunday, the 14th. So we, we got Bill Federer coming on a little later to give us some of the history on flag day. And man, this is one I know virtually nothing about guys. David, I, I mean, I consider myself, you know, a red, white and blue American. I love the flag. I love doing the Pledge of Allegiance, but the only part of the history of the, of a Flag Day that I know is the, you know, 1954 putting under God in the in the Pledge and Eisenhower. Everything else, I have no idea when it started. So this is gonna be a fun program. 

David Barton [00:01:10] It will be, and Tim would normally be with us, but he had a full day. He did, I think he did three speakings and led a tour in Washington, D.C. May still be doing that at the Capitol. But he had full day, so you and I are gonna cover this one, Rick. But Flag Day, actually, it's one of the really, really, really old holidays, or at least commemorations. It goes almost back to the Declaration of Independence. Some of the first flags came out with Massachusetts. They had their flag for their militia; they had their flag for their Navy. And it's really the kind of first American flag comes out of the Continental Congress. And Continental Congress asked one of the Signers of the Declaration to design that flag, Francis Hopkinson. And so Francis Hopkinson was, he's a fine arts guy. He's the guy who did the first purely American hymnal, set the 150 Psalms all to music. He was the organist at Christ Church in Philadelphia. And by the way, 15 Signers of Declaration attended Christ Church, so. For those who hear their atheist, agnostics, deists, that's a lot of people going to church who don't believe in God, which is crazy. But, you know, I say that facetiously because they were strong Christians. So it goes back to Frances Hopkinson as the start of the flag type of stuff. And no, Betsy Ross did not do the first flag. That rumor came out in 1876 on the 100th anniversary by some of her descendants, one of whom was her uncle, a Signer of the Declaration, George Ross. And they said, yeah, yeah, our ancestor Betsy did that. No, sorry, that's about 100 years too late. So nonetheless, Francis Hopkinson kind of designs the original American flag. They changed it later with some additions and some changes, but nonetheless, Flag Day goes all the way back almost to the Declaration of Independence. 

Rick Green [00:02:52] Wow! Man! I did not realize that. I really did I thought it was you know, like what in the 19, you know mid 1900 So alright, this is gonna be fun. Bill Federer be with us when we come back from the break. Stay with us. You're listening to the WallBuilders Show 

Rick Green [00:04:09] Welcome back to the intersection of faith and culture. Thanks for staying with us on the WallBuilders Show. Our good friend, Bill Federer back with us. So many great holidays this year to learn from. And of course, on the 250th getting to dive deep into some of these. And we got one today. I know nothing about, I literally have no idea what the history is on Flag Day and how it got developed and how we should properly honor it. So who better to call Bill Federer? Bill. Hey brother, thanks for coming on and spending some time with us! 

Bill Federer [00:04:34] Hey, Rick! Great to be with you. 

Rick Green [00:04:36] Well, thanks for doing this, man. And I know we're going to get you on in another week or two about Father’s Day as well. So we'll air that one closer to Father's Day, but Flag Day's coming up in just a few days. What is the history of that and how should we properly celebrate it? 

Bill Federer [00:04:52] Well, June 14th, 1777 is when the Second Continental Congress selected the 13 stars and 13 stripes as our national flag. They're in the midst of this war against the most globalist powerful king that the planet had ever seen, the King of England. And so this was the {Pledge Allegiance to the Flag has a little bit different history. That started in 1885. Union Army Captain George Thatcher Balch, B-A-L-C-H. He wrote the first version of the Pledge of Allegiance and he had also been the auditor of the New York City Board of Education and he authored a book, Methods of Teaching Patriotism in the Public Schools. Maybe we ought to republish that. But the year was 1890. So he's responsible for the movement to put flagpoles in front of the public schools. And his pledge began with a salute to the flag, I give my heart and my hand to my country, one country, one language, one flag. And now that was 1890, is, when he published his book. But shortly after that is 1892, 36-year-old Baptist minister, Francis Bellamy, he does his version. Now he's ordained in the Baptist church, little falls, New York. He is a staff member, abuse companion. And so, in September 8th, 1892, he publishes his draft, comes out just in time for the 1892 Columbus Day, all right, 400th anniversary of 1492. And it was encouraged to be recited by the students with prayers, patriotic speeches, the singing of My Country Tis of Thee. Samuel Francis Smith wrote that in 1831. And I love the fourth stanza of that song: "our Father's God to Thee, Author of liberty, to Thee we sing. Long may our land be bright with freedom's holy light. Protect us by Thyt might great God, our King." And then they were also encouraged to read Benjamin Harrison's Proclamation of 1892. Let the national flag float over every schoolhouse in the country. Let there be expressions of gratitude to Divine Providence. And so they recited it. And then in 1916, Woodrow Wilson declares National Flag Day. And he says, I call your attention to the approach of the anniversary of the day upon which the flag of the United States was adopted by Congress. Therefore, recommend throughout the nation, the 14th day of June be observed as flag day with special patriotic exercises, our thoughtful love of America, comprehension of great mission of liberty and justice, that done in the city of Washington in the year of our Lord, 1916. So now we have the pledge. The flag, 1777, the first pledge in 1885, and then 1892, and then we have Woodrow Wilson making National Flag Day. Then we go to 1954, Cold War, we have communists, atheists and the Knights of Columbus lead an effort to get “One Nation Under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance. And it's public law 396 and Eisenhower signs it. And the section seven says. The following is designated as the Pledge of Allegiance in the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Such pledge should be rendered by standing with the right hand over the heart. However, civilians will always show full respect to the flag when the pledge is given by merely standing at attention, men removing their headdresses, persons in uniforms shall give the military salute. Eisenhower stood on the steps of the U.S. Capital recited the pledge for the first time with the phrase "under God", which of course is taken from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address; that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom. And then in 1979 the Capitol under the authority of Congress published a pictorial history of the Capitol and in there it has a comment regarding the Pledge. This Pledge attests what has been true about America from the beginning, faith in the transcendent sovereign God. Was in the public philosophy. The American consensus, America's story opens with the first words of the Bible, in the beginning, God, we are truthfully one nation under God, our institutions presuppose a divine being, wrote Justice William O. Douglas, 1966. Only a nation founded on theistic presuppositions would adopt a First Amendment to ensure the free exercise of all religions or none. The government would be neutral among the many denominations, and no one church would become the state church, but America and its institutions of government could not be neutral about God. That was 1979, and that was the U.S. Capitol publishing that. 

Rick Green [00:09:49] And Bill, let me let me ask you real quick. So were we doing when they did that in 18? Which say 79 was when they...

Bill Federer [00:09:56] 1885 is when the Union General Balch is one who composed the One Heart, One Hand, One Language 

Rick Green [00:10:04] How did it catch on like how do people and were we doing recitations in schools and things like that? Or did that come a lot later? 

Bill Federer [00:10:13] It was definitely a patriotic period in America's history. You know, you had Woodrow Wilson giving out bibles to all the soldiers in World War I and Woodrow Wilson having a day of fasting. Imagine that. And so the, the patriotic fervor, the population of Christians in America was in the 90 percentiles. I even was, you know, for 30 years, I've been going to the CIA.gov website. And they have a world fact book. And it lists every nation in the world and every imaginable statistic, including America. And one of the amount of variable land, gross national product, HIV death rate, among all this. You look up Japan, it's 80% Buddhists, and India is 80% Hindu, and Pakistan is 90%, Saudi Arabia is 100%. But you looked up 30 years ago, I'd looked up the United States and it says that we were 94% Christian. Now it's going down to the 60 some odd percent. We're going in the wrong direction. But back in 1950, we were close to 98% Christian. 

Rick Green [00:11:20] Wow. 98%. 

Bill Federer [00:11:22] And about 2% Jewish. And, and it was.. What? 0.1% atheist and 0.001% Muslim. We're talking, it was a Judeo-Christian country. So that's why during World War II, you had Franklin Roosevelt giving out Gideon's New Testaments to all the soldiers by the millions, and he writes the foreword as Commander in Chief, I take pleasure in committing the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces. Truman signs the... Act of Congress for the military that they have to attend chapel, Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish. That's your three choices. No Satanist, no transgenderedist, no Islamist, no, just it's Judeo-Christian. And, and, and so we were a country that realized that if, if rights come from God, the purpose of government is to guarantee to you your Creator given rights, but if there is no God, your rights come from where? Well, the government, the state. Well, what the government giveth, the government can taketh awayeth. 

Rick Green [00:12:29] Yeah, that's right. Taketh- taketh awayeth 

Bill Federer [00:12:33] So the flag is a symbol of unity that we have to, if we're going to fight to defend our country, what are we, what do we doing? We have to have something in common. So that's where you had Calvin Coolidge was the president in 1923. And he gave a great address where he says at Arlington Cemetery, he says It is the maintenance of our American ideals beneath a common flag under the blessing of almighty God. And we know that Providence would have it so. Franklin Roosevelt in 1935, our flag for a century and a half has been the symbol of the principles of liberty and conscience of freedom of religion, equality before the law. And these concepts are deeply ingrained in our national character. And I did an old book on FDR. People say, why'd you do that? It's like, well, I was running for Congress and if I quoted from a Republican, all the left-wing media would say, oh, you're a writing fanatic. And so I was like, I went through, I read through all of FDR's addresses. He was in office 12 years. He got elected president four times. And so he's like the patron saint of the Democrat party and lo and behold, he was Episcopalian, sort of a, you know, not a really, definitely not an evangelical denomination. But he acknowledged Christianity, and so on Flag Day, June 14th, 1942, Franklin Roosevelt said, "The belief in man created free in the image of God is the crucial difference between ourselves and the enemies we face. We ask the German people, still dominated by Nazi whip masters, whether they would rather have the mechanized hell of Hitler's new order or, in place of that, freedom of speech and religion. We asked the Japanese people, trampled by their savage lords of slaughter. Whether they would rather continue slavery or blood, or in the place of that, freedom of speech and religion. We know that man born to freedom in the image of God will not forever suffer the oppressor's sword, and then he closes with a prayer. God of the free, we pledge our hearts and lives today to the cause to free all mankind. Grant us victory over tyrants who would enslave all free men and nations. Grant us patience with the deluded and pity for the betrayed. Grant us valor. That we shall cleanse the world of oppression and the old debase doctrines that the strong must eat the weak because they are strong." And so we are a country that has a common belief in God. I love the quote from Eisenhower. He said, belief in the Supreme Being is the first, the most basic expression of Americanism. In other words, belief in the Supreme Being is the lowest common denominator. That's what we if to be an American, you at least need to do that. Now, some, some understanding it's Supreme Being singular. So we have eliminated Buddhism and Hinduism. And it's a God who believes in freedom of conscience, which eliminates Islam. 

Rick Green [00:15:36] Yeah. 

Bill Federer [00:15:37] Islam doesn't believe in freedom, that you worship God according to dictates of your heart. No, you worship God according the Sharia. And, and if you don't, you get killed and But so it's the God of the Bible that they're referring to. And obviously that's what it is because here you have FDR passing out Gideon's New Testaments and book of Psalms. So it was the God of the Bible, that Eisenhower's group was referring to belief in the Supreme Being is the first, the most basic expression of Americanism. And Eisenhauer also approved a posting stamp with the flag. With the “In God We Trust” motto on it. And then this is a little personal trivia. Eisenhower approved putting In God we Trust on our paper currency. And the first paper dollar bill with In God We Trust was printed on October 1st, 1957, which was the day I was born. 

Rick Green [00:16:33] Haha no kidding and I love it! You probably have some really cool currency with the with In "God We Trust" on it in your collection from your birthday.

Bill Federer [00:16:47]  I have some but and nothing that can hold a candle to what you and David and Tim Barton and Glenn Beck have with the American Journey experience. I mean that that's the ultimate collection. But I did go on eBay and I did buy a bunch of 1957 dollar bills with "In God We Trust" on it. 

Rick Green [00:17:11] Yeah. Love it. Love it. So I before I let you go I just want to drill a little bit deeper into the just what you said about you know, just that basic belief and in God being part of what really separates the American... You didn't say exactly like that. But it's really what makes the American system special. Eisenhower, of course got that I mean, like you said he was in the throes of commu.. you know fighting communism. And could already see that coming and it really is what differentiated us from the rest of the world. When you say we, like we went from 98% Christian, you know, down to whatever we're at now in the, in the sixties. I mean, that has to affect the American system, mindset, culture, everything. If you, if you drop by a third, those who have that belief that made the country great in the first place, you can see why we're in the conflicts that we are now. So the more that people come to the truths of Christ when they come to these, this faith in God, the better chance we have of the country of saving the country, right? 

Bill Federer [00:18:15] Yeah, yeah, we have to know what it is we're fighting for. You know, Oregon Trail was dedicated by Warren G. Harding in 1923. And he said, never in the history of the world has there been a finer example of civilization following Christianity. The missionaries, which went to the Northwest, you know, with the Oregon Trail, the missionaries led under the banner of the cross, and the settlers moved close behind it under the star-spangled symbol of the nation. So he says, look, Christianity goes first. And then we got the flag. And, but the effort to move away from that, you know, 98%, was documented by Congressman Albert Herlong, read into the congressional record. But it was Cleon Skousen's book where he lists the 45 tactics of the communists to, to destroy America. Number 12, do away with loyalty oaths, like pledges of allegiance. Number 17, get control of schools, use them as transmission belts for socialism and current communist propaganda. Soften curriculum, get controlled teachers association. Put party line in textbooks. That's why the NEA is like so leftist. Get control of student newspapers. Use student riots to foment public protests. Break down cultural standards of morality. Promote pornography and obscenity. Infiltrate churches. Replace revealed religion with social justice religion. Discredit the Bible. Eliminate prayer. And then discredit the American Constitution, discredit the American Founding Fathers, and belittle all forms of American culture, discourage the teaching of American history. Basically, it's a concept called deconstruction, where you separate a people from their past, get them into a neutral where they don't remember where they came from, and then you brainwash them into the future you have planned for them. It's drive, neutral, reverse, it is a sales technique. If I was a toothpaste salesman, The first thing I would say to you is negative things about the toothpaste you are currently brushing with. You're still brushing with that stuff, haven't you read it's gonna eat the enamel off your teeth and dries your gums, and it's like, ooh, really? So now you're repulsed by it and they have you in a neutral, you're open-minded. What are all the toothpaste out there? And then I can give you my pitch from this brand-new Tartar Control Breath Freshener stuff. So they go into the classrooms. 

Rick Green [00:20:32] Yeah, you got to deconstruct and tear down what's there first in order to sell their worldview. 

Bill Federer [00:20:39] You say, okay, the Founders were all bad. They took land from Indians, sold people into slavery, and they were bad. Forget the fact that gave you a country where you're in charge. Republic is ruled by citizens, and the word citizen comes from the Latin and Greek, which means co-ruler. And so forget the fact that you're a co-king of the country. Forget all that. The Founders were bad; they reject the founders and everything they did. Now the kids are in neutral. It's like, oh, well, it's nothing special about our Christian past. Well, let's have a comparative religion class, and we'll start off with Islam, and then we just... Gee, the semester ran out. We didn't get enough time to get around to Christianity. And then they give their pitch for transgenderism and socialism and Islamism. And it's like taking out the DNA and putting in the new DNA. It's like, you know, replacement therapy. 

Rick Green [00:21:24] They had to tear it down first, then they just replace it. And that's, man, it's happened with millions. I mean, the hope is then though, that, that if we bring truth back and counteract those replacements, you know, but it's going to take evangelism, it was going to education. It's going take all the things that we're doing and so thankful for, for what you put out in terms of just all of this information that, that we lost that we stopped teaching. So restoring civics and that, that civic literacy and just knowing where we came from and seeing God's hand in all of it. So critical, especially here in the 250, just a great time to do this. Bill Federer, man, I can't wait to get you back for Father's Day. So we'll see you in about a week. And we'll talk about the history of Father’s Day as well. We appreciate you, bro. 

Bill Federer [00:22:03] Oh, Rick, it's an honor to be in on with you and God bless all the listeners. 

Rick Green [00:22:07] Alright, stay with us folks, we'll be right back with David Barton. 

Rick Green [00:23:16] Welcome back to the WallBuilders Show. Thanks for staying with us. Man! There's the calendar right there all the way like you said, David, at the beginning of the program from 1777, all the way to even some recent changes and you know, Flag Day, of course, uh, going to happen this weekend. I forgot to ask Bill, you know, as we got into it, how to celebrate it? Like what, what should we encourage people to do David? When he kind of maybe listen to this program and share this program with somebody to learn these things. But is it just kind of getting educated about that, this history that we're talking about? 

David Barton [00:23:44] Think it is. But there's there's another part I want to add to the story I mean he was talking about adding "Under God" the Pledge of Allegiance and the way that came about and I think we actually have this part up on our website. But Reverend George Dockery was the pastor there and I think it was New York either 15th Street Presbyterian or New York Presbytery and that's where Eisenhower was going to church and he was a recent emigrant from Scotland that had just got here and he said that his kids came home from school that day during the week and he asked the kids, what did you do at school? And they said, well, the same old stuff. He said, what is the same old stuff? I don't know what American schools do. We said the Pledge of Allegiance, had a prayer, had a scripture. He says, you said the what? The Pledge of Allegiance. What is that? And, they recited the pledge, which at that time did not have under God in it. And, he gave a sermon that week and it was a typewritten sermon. He read the sermon, which again, it's great to see, have that. I think we have it posted online. But he was saying, you know, I've thought about that all week. He said, and the Russians, and we're in the middle of the Cold War at that point with Eisenhower and the White House. He said the Russians can easily say that they're one nation with liberty and justice for all. And they do say that. It's a lie, but they say it. And the Chinese communists can say it's one nation, with liberty, and justice for all. He said America, you're different from China. You're different, from Russia. What makes you different is God. He said you really ought to put under God in the pledge of allegiance. And so that was part of the sermon was adding under God because America so different, we're a spiritual nation. And there sitting on the front row is President Eisenhower and several members of Congress, senators and reps. And guess what bill got dropped the next week. They get out of church they go to Congress and say let's add under God to the Pledge of Allegiance. So it's a really fun story. But celebrating Flag Day, a good way to do that is remember that this is about God. I mean was that with the Founding Fathers back to Christ Church that the orchestra, I mean the music director of Christ Church designs the original flag and here we are saying, hey, people think this could be secular, let's make sure people understand God's the center of here and that's a great way to celebrate Flag Day with appreciation to God and a recollection that God is the one responsible for the blessings we celebrate in America all the time, but Flag Day is one of those times to remember blessings God's put on the nation. 

Rick Green [00:25:54] You'll probably remember, David, I don't know if I'll put you on the spot on this, but didn't Eisenhower say something to the pastor about like, it was some line like, I think you've got something there, or he went like great idea was like, I think you have something there. And then he must have gone and talked to some congressman about it right after that. 

David Barton [00:26:09] Yeah, it was the thing that it's like, oh, that was so obvious. Why didn't we think of that? Of course, that's what makes America special. And it was, it, was an outsider who just thought, you know, you, you guys are different and I thought that was really good and bless his heart. You know, me being from Scotland, new to America, taking that bold stand and say, add it to the Pledge of Allegiance, what a good addition that was as a Scottish immigrant coming into America. 

Rick Green [00:26:33] Love it. Well, thanks for all the history. Thanks for you listening out there. Those of you that have been listening, share it with your friends and family this weekend for Flag Day. Have a fantastic rest of your day. You've been listening to The WallBuilders Show.