Americans are set to celebrate Flag Day on Sunday, an observed holiday commemorating the 1777 adoption of the Stars and Stripes.

“This day we honor the flag, and we encourage the community to hang their flags up to commemorate this day,” said Paul Lamberton, president of the Spirit of ‘76 Association.

Spirit of ‘76 will host a free Flag Day celebration at noon Sunday on the back side of the Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido. The event will feature a 40-foot-by-60-foot American flag, similar to the one seen at the Pentagon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. The flag will remain up through July 4.

Lamberton said he expects only about 100 people to show up for the unfurling because many Santa Barbarans are afraid to display their patriotism.

“In other states, everybody will have a flag out, but that’s obviously not the case in Santa Barbara,” Lamberton said. “Many are scared of showing pride in their country. People are attacked if they express love for their country and what our founding fathers fought for.”

Scoutmaster Kevin Baird of Boy Scout Troop 50 in Carpinteria disagreed. He recalled that every time his troops have participated in parades along Linden Avenue, he has seen people of all ages saluting the flag carried by the color guard.

Both men agreed they are fortunate to live in a country where the ideas of democracy and freedom are prevalent.

Flag Day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the Continental Congress in 1777, but it wasn’t observed until 1885 when 19-year-old Wisconsin grade school teacher Bernard Cigrand asked his class to celebrate the flag’s birthday.

The following year, Cigrand published an article titled “The fourteenth of June.” Two years later, he gave a speech promoting the importance of Flag Day, according to an account from the National Flag Day Foundation.

In the following years, Cigrand wrote thousands of articles advocating the adoption of Flag Day, and in June 1894, the first formal celebration involved more than 300,000 children from the Chicago area.

In 1949, well after Cigrand’s death, President Harry Truman signed legislation designating June 14 as Flag Day. It is not a federal holiday, however.

Baird said flags can be purchased at local hardware stores.

— Noozhawk intern Kenny Lindberg can be reached at news@noozhawk.com.