The emblem of our unity.

This flag which we honour 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. ... 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.

Woodrow Wilson, June 1917,

as the country entered World War I

These are things we need to remember, especially in this time of great division over the choices contributing to the plan of life we are working out together as a country.