title: Bernard J. Cigrand, DDS: Father of Flag Day and renaissance man.
abstract: Dr. Bernard J. Cigrand is acknowledged as the "Father of Flag Day." He relentlessly continued his activities for more than sixty years to have June 14 designated for the national observance of the birth of the American flag. That finally occurred in 1948, seventeen years after his death, when President Harry S. Truman signed a Congressional Act into law. However, the law designated a voluntary observance but did not create a legal national holiday. In addition to his fervent passion for Flag Day, Cigrand undertook a variety of other initiatives He was a practicing dentist, the dean of a dental school, an investigative journalist, an expert on heraldry and seals, a lecturer and an author of books. Despite all his achievements, Cigrand is more widely known in the European country from where his parents emigrated to the United States in 1852 - Luxembourg, than in the United States.
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, State University of New York, 450 Clarkson Avenue - Box 43, Brooklyn, New York 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Allen D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Spiegel
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kavaler
mesh_terms: D004616:Emblems and Insignia / Q000266:history; D005179:Faculty, Dental; D006665:History of Dentistry; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006693:Holidays / Q000266:history*; D020452:Journalism; D008189:Luxembourg / Q000208:ethnology; D012575:Schools, Dental; D013039:Specialties, Dental / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States