Bill Text: CA ACR56 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Enrolled

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relative to the American flag.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 44-20)

Status: (Passed) 2011-09-28 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 106, Statutes of 2011. [ACR56 Detail]

Download: California-2011-ACR56-Enrolled.html

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BILL NUMBER: ACR 56	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	ADOPTED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 8, 2011
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 9, 2011
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 15, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 13, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Hill and Cook
   (Principal coauthor: Senator Walters)
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano,
Atkins, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Block, Bonilla, Bradford, Buchanan,
Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng,
Feuer, Fong, Furutani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman,
Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Huber, Hueso, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mitchell,
Monning, Nestande, Nielsen, Olsen, Pan, Perea, John A. Pérez, V.
Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, and Yamada)

                        MAY 5, 2011

   Relative to the American flag.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 56, Hill. Relative to the American flag.
   This measure would recognize the 61st anniversary of National Flag
Day, honor the 51st anniversary of the flying of the current
American flag, and would encourage all Californians to celebrate the
occasion with appropriate activities.



   WHEREAS, For more than two centuries, the American flag has been a
banner of hope for generation after generation of Americans; and
   WHEREAS, The flag is a symbol of a country that has grown from 13
colonies to a united nation of 50 sovereign states; and
   WHEREAS, Continental Congress member Francis Hopkinson designed
the first Stars and Stripes. The first flag of the United States was
authorized by Congressional Resolution on June 14, 1777, resolving
that it be made of 13 stripes, alternating red and white, and that
the union be 13 white stars in a blue field, representing a new
constellation; and
   WHEREAS, Since the first American flag, several congressional acts
and Presidential Executive orders have altered the shape, design,
and arrangement of the flag, and allowed for additional stars and
stripes to be added to reflect the admission of each new state; and
   WHEREAS, In 1794, Congress passed an act changing the American
flag so that it contained 15 stripes and 15 stars; and
   WHEREAS, In 1818, President Monroe signed legislation requiring
that the American flag have 13 stripes and a star for each state in
the union. Stars for newly added states would be applied to the flag
on July 4 of the following year; and
   WHEREAS, Flag makers were able to use imaginative designs to
accommodate new stars on the flag until 1912, when President Taft
issued an Executive order that established rows of stars as the
standard design; and
   WHEREAS, On June 14, 1885, a 19-year-old Wisconsin schoolteacher
named Bernard J. Cigrand assigned his students essays on the flag and
its significance, in commemoration of the congressional resolution
of 1777; and
   WHEREAS, Cigrand's lifelong effort to bring about national
recognition of the day culminated in the issuance of a proclamation
by President Wilson on May 30, 1916, calling for a nationwide
observance of Flag Day; and
   WHEREAS, In 1949, President Truman signed an act of Congress
designating the 14th day of June every year as National Flag Day; and

   WHEREAS, The 48-star American flag, represented by the traditional
13 stripes and six rows of eight stars, was the official flag from
1912 until 1959; and
   WHEREAS, On January 3, 1959, Alaska was formally granted statehood
and the 49-star American flag, represented by the traditional 13
stripes and seven rows of seven stars, became the official flag when
it was raised over Independence Hall on July 4, 1959; and
   WHEREAS, Hawaii became this country's 50th state on August 21,
1959, requiring that a new 50-star flag be designed as the official
American flag; and
   WHEREAS, President Eisenhower unveiled the new 50-star flag on
August 21, 1959, at a ceremony commemorating Hawaii's statehood; and
   WHEREAS, The 50-star flag, the current Stars and Stripes, became
the official American flag on July 4, 1960, with a design of 13
stripes and 50 stars, represented by five rows of six stars
alternating with four rows of five stars; and
   WHEREAS, Despite the numerous designs of the American flag, they
have all stood for the United States Constitution, the American way
of life, our collective past achievements, and our dreams for the
future; and
   WHEREAS, On June 14, 2011, National Flag Day, the 50-star American
flag celebrated its 51st anniversary as the official Stars and
Stripes, representing the longest period that any fixed flag design
has been used; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature recognizes the 61st
anniversary of National Flag Day, honors the 51st anniversary of the
flying of the current American flag, and encourages all Californians
to celebrate the occasion with appropriate activities; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly provide copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.