Consider the flag of the United States. There is no better time to do so.

June 14 is Flag Day, an annual celebration honoring a symbol of freedom that has stood since 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation establishing the commemoration.

But longer than this , our flag has stood as a symbol of pride for our nation: over scores of battles and wars, over victories and tragedies, over the rubble of the Twin Towers of 9/11 when three firemen raised Old Glory in a sign of resolution and unity.

Do we have the respect for our flag today that we felt in 2001? We should. We must: The Fourth of July may be America’s birthday, but our flag stands for all that that day means.

On June 14, 1917, President Wilson reminded of us this:

“My Fellow Citizens: We meet to celebrate Flag Day because this flag which we honor and under which we serve is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a nation. It has no other character than that which we give it from generation to generation. The choices are ours. It floats in majestic silence above the hosts that execute those choices, whether in peace or in war. And yet, though silent, it speaks to us — speaks to us of the past, of the men and women who went before us and of the records they wrote upon it. We celebrate the day of its birth; and from its birth until now it has witnessed a great history, has floated on high the symbol of great, events, of a great plan of life worked out by a great people.”

Our flag transcends politics, race and creed. For 245 years it has done so, “from generation to generation,” as Wilson said. And yes, our flag speaks to us of our past and the choices that have been made beneath its colors, but it also speaks to us of our future.

The question now is whether beneath our banner that future will whisper or roar of “our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a nation.”

Consider the flag of the United States.