People From Across America Visit Philadelphia To Celebrate Flag Day
By Mike Dougherty
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Sunday was Flag Day -- and a celebration of all things stars and stripes was happening in Old City Philadelphia where this nation's flag was created.
On this day in 1777, the flag was adopted as the symbol of the United States of America.
James Peele is a re-enactor at the Betsy Ross House, where visitors get to see how the first flag was created.
"The Flag Day celebration is an important one," Peele said, "because it represents all the struggle and triumph of the American Revolutionary War."
The Schmidt family came all the way from Houston, Texas to celebrate the holiday in Philadelphia.
"It's lots of fun for the kids," said Christy Schmidt, "and a good opportunity to show them about the freedom and independence that we have in our country."
"It's the first time we've been here," said Kip Schmidt. "This is fun, really nice. It's interesting to see how old this city is."
So what exactly does the U.S. flag mean to Americans?
"It means a lot of men died, a lot of stuff happened in order for us to come and do whatever we do," Kip said. "Get up on a Sunday and tour a city, if we want to tour a city, because people died for our freedom. That's what it means to me."
"It's memories. It's pride. It's honor," said Cathy Matos of Mount Holly, New Jersey. "You think of your freedoms, it just reminds you of that. It reminds you of what's been paid, the price that's been paid."
This is also the birthday of the U.S. Army, which was founded in 1775, two years before the flag was made.
