"Stars and Stripes Forever:" Song of the Day for June 14

Every country needs a flashy flag. The fledgling United States was no different. On June 14, 1776 the Second Continental Congress took a break from writing the Articles of Confederation and approved the country’s first flag.

General George Washington commissioned the first attempt. That design was turned down because it looked too much like England’s flag.

The approved flag had 13 alternating red and white stripes, with 13 stars of equal size. 13 represented the number of colonies at the time. A new star was added as each new state was added.

 In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson set June 14 as Flag Day, though it’s not a national holiday.

John Phillip Sousa wrote the Song of the Day “Stars and Stripes Forever” in 1896. After hearing about the death of his band’s manager, he composed the song in his head while returning to New York from Europe.

He wrote in his autobiography, “...absorbed in thoughts of my manager's death and the many duties and decisions which awaited me in New York. Suddenly, I began to sense a rhythmic beat of a band playing within my brain.

“Throughout the whole tense voyage, that imaginary band continued to unfold the same themes, echoing and re-echoing the most distant melody. I did not transfer a note of that music to paper while I was on the steamer, but when we reached shore, I set down the measures that my brain-band had been playing for me, and not a note of it has ever changed."

He played the song at almost every concert for the next 25 years. In 1987, Congress named it the National March of the United States.

Song of the Day is created by Sheldon Zoldan, edited by Jared Gonzalez and produced by Pam James for WGCU. To receive the Song of the Day in your inbox every day, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.