Flag Day is observed on June 14, marking the date in 1777 when the United States approved the design for its first national flag.
The flag of the United States flies atop poles in front of the Student Union at Hubbard Hall and at Old Main on TWU’s Denton campus. Sometimes the wind unfurls the flags, displaying the Stars and Stripes to those who work, study, or visit the campus. Even on days when the winds are still, the flag flies from a place of honor.
TWU’s single-building campuses in the Dallas and Houston medical centers don’t have flag poles.
There are many rules and guidelines for properly displaying the U.S. flag, including designated days when the flag is to be flown at half-staff. While some days are scheduled, the U.S. president or the governor of the state can order flags to be flown at half-staff at other times. Lt. David Law, TWU Department of Public Safety, receives notification of the orders and officers are assigned to complete the detail. It’s a task the department took over from Facilities Management & Construction a few years ago.
“All officers are trained to lower and raise the flags,” Law said.
Whenever the flag is lowered it’s a sign of mourning, whether it be for Peace Officers Memorial Day (May 15) or Patriot Day (Sept. 11). The significance is not lost on the officers.
“I’m honoring the victims,” Officer Brian Bowen said of lowering the flag. Following the May 24 school shooting in Uvalde, Bowen lowered the flag on TWU’s Hubbard Oval. In doing so, he said, “I’m honoring the children who died.”
Bowen served in the U.S. Army for five years and remembers the flag being raised each day.
“Reveille would sound and everyone would stop and salute, wherever you were,” he said. “I was in Germany for three years and we even did that there.
“It was really important to us,” he said. “It was an honor to represent our country.”
Bowen said two other TWU DPS officers have a military background, and he’s noticed that they also stop and salute the flag.
“It shows respect,” he said. “It’s an honorable thing to do.”
Learn more about the American flag.