Happy Flag Day!

Have you ever stumbled across an article or list on social media that resembles “Things Europeans think are weird about the US”. On many of these lists they often point to our obsession with the American flag. “Patriotism isn't quite as strong in most European countries, and even when it is, people don't necessarily have the same attachment to their national flag.” (Abadi, 2018) It’s not uncommon to see many homes, businesses, and public buildings with a flag on display. While seeing a flag on display is common practice, those celebrating the holiday honoring the flag is rare. In fact, it is one of the most unobserved holidays in the US. So, before I go into puzzles with flags on them, lets first look at a little history about the holiday.

 Flag Day in the United States, is a day for honoring the national flag, observed on June 14^th. The holiday commemorates the date in 1777 when the United States approved the design for its first national flag. There have since been 26 additional versions of the American flag. The latest change was in 1960 when Hawaii joined the Union. While the stars and orientation of the elements on the flag have varied, the original outline with the blue union and the thirteen alternating stripes of 7 red and 6 white have remained constant. Even though it is an observed holiday it isn’t a federal one and is only a legal holiday in Pennsylvania. (US Dept of Veterans Affairs, 2009)

While some may think it strange or unnecessary to have a holiday dedicated to a piece of cloth, it is important to remember that this symbol of our country has great meaning to those who have fought for our freedoms. The famous, award winning, photo by journalist Joe Rosenthal, is one of the most famous battlefront images. The photograph was from February 23, 1945, during the battle of Iwo Jima. Six marines planted the U.S. flag at the summit of Mount Suribachi. (Garner, 2021) Ray Simon creates a rendition of this image for SunsOut Grand Old Flag Puzzle.

If you need a puzzle for Flag Day or are just needing an excuse to buy new puzzles, you are in luck. A puzzle with a flag on it is not difficult to find. Patriotic puzzles are pretty common and when searching for American Flag Puzzles or Patriotic Puzzles on Puzzle Warehouse you will not be disappointed. Flag puzzles sometimes will have other patriotic symbols such as a soldier, eagle, statue of liberty or government buildings. While other patriotic puzzles show flags flying within a town, among puppies, or as the symbol of an American road trip. 

Charles Wysocki is a great artist to follow if you like flag puzzles, but you don’t want it to be the whole image. Sometimes, the flag is just a small little detail; like in the Buffalo Games, Bread & Butter Farms. I recently did The Quiltmakers also by Buffalo Games. What I loved about this one was it’s a very rare sighting into one of the homes in a Charles Wysocki image. The flag pieces were very easy to spot when sorting, and I loved seeing another side to the towns that I normally put together.

A puzzle that has been handed down within my family is this one by Springbok called State Plates. Both my sisters and my mom all completed this one before I got my hands on it. One thing that may be deceiving about completing a large flag puzzle, is the large areas of red & white pieces.  It makes the puzzle a lot more challenging than it appears.

However, I think the ultimate challenge would be The American Flag by Pigment & Hue. This puzzle is only three colors and is DOUBLE SIDED. The scale of the two sides may be the trick to determining which is which. If you like tricky puzzles, you might enjoy it. 

Let’s just say there is no shortage of puzzles with flags on them. While Flag Day isn’t a holiday celebrated by many, it is a holiday that has always been popular in my family as it is also my mom’s birthday. So, Happy Birthday Mom & Happy Flag Day to all you puzzlers.

Emilee – The Casual Puzzler