Bernard J. Cigrand

Overview
Dr. Bernard J. Cigrand, a dentist, has a strong claim to being considered the father of Flag Day in the United States.

Cigrand, who lived from 1866 to 1932, practiced dentistry in Chicago and was the third dean of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, serving in that post from 1903 to 1906.

Working as a grade school teacher in Waubeka, WI, in 1885, Cigrand held the first recognized formal observance of Flag Day at Stony Hill School in Waubeka. The school has been restored, and a bust of Cigrand also honors him at the National Flag Day Americanism Center in Waubeka.

From the late 1880s on, Cigrand spoke around the country promoting patriotism, respect for the flag, and the need for the annual observance of a flag day on June 14, the day in 1777 that the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes. He became president of the American Flag Day Association and later of the National Flag Day Society, which allowed him to promote his cause with organizational backing. Cigrand once noted he had given 2,188 speeches on patriotism and the flag.

After joining the UIC College of Dentistry's teaching staff in 1899, Cigrand was elected by faculty to the Paris International Congress of Educators in 1900. He also was elected secretary of the faculty before becoming dean. After his deanship, he remained on the faculty well into the 1920s and was a frequent contributor to five Chicago newspapers.

In 1916, after 30 years of Cigrand's advocacy, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 Flag Day in 1916. (The United States Congress formally made the proclamation law in 1949).

The public generally credited Cigrand with being the "Father of Flag Day," with the Chicago Tribune noting he "almost singlehandedly" established the holiday.