A U.S. flag's global odyssey to honor, unite all Americans started in Pittsburgh

On a June day marked by an elaborate military parade in the nation’s capital and thousands of protests across the country, the Pittsburgh-based National Flag Foundation presented a U.S. flag to the American Battle Monuments Commission in a quiet ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

“There was no band, no frills, nobody was there to see it. All it was was an overture of honor — it gave everyone the chills,” said Romel Nicholas, chairman of the National Flag Foundation.

The 5-by-8-foot flag has been on the move ever since.

The ceremony at the Vietnam memorial, held on Flag Day, launched a foundation initiative called Sojourn 250. It is part of a broader effort to celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial on July 4, 2026.

With the help of UPS and a host of government agencies and partner organizations, the foundation’s flag will be raised in the 26 U.S. military cemeteries located abroad, each of the five inhabited U.S. territories, all 50 states and the nation’s capital.

After leaving the Vietnam memorial, the flag traveled first to the Florence American Cemetery in Italy. Most of the 4,392 people buried there were part of the U.S. Fifth Army, most of whom died in fighting following the capture of Rome in June 1944 and in fighting in the Apennines Mountains shortly before the end of World War II in Europe. Nearly 500 of those buried there were from Pennsylvania.

The flag also visited the other U.S. military cemetery in Italy and all the ones in France, England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Tunisia, the Philippines, Panama and Mexico. The American Battle Monuments Commission maintains those cemeteries.

Robert Dalessandro, acting secretary of the commission, said the National Flag Foundation’s initiative helps to “pay respect to the long history of sacrifice that has helped to birth and shape this nation.”

“The history our Stars and Stripes represent is one of courage, bravery and unyielding dedication to the principles we as Americans hold so dear,” Dalessandro added.

The National Sheriffs’ Association is helping deliver the flag to 49 of the 50 states. Nicholas said Alaska does not have sheriffs. The indigenous Aleut people will serve as the flag’s hosts there.

The flag has already been to one U.S. territory, Guam. Future stops in the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are planned.

The flag is also making some special stops along the way. This past weekend, it flew at the Salute to Service football game between Notre Dame and Navy in South Bend, Ind. On Tuesday, it will be at Arlington National Cemetery for the Veterans Day National Ceremony.

The flag’s final journey will coincide with the nation’s semiquincentennial on July 4, 2026. It will travel from Pittsburgh to Washington accompanied by a motorcycle brigade of 250 veterans. The foundation will then present the flag to the America250 Commission, which will fly it at the U.S. Capitol.

That will serve as a prelude to another foundation initiative, Light to Unite. The foundation is calling on all Americans to fly the U.S. flag on July 4 and, as night falls, to light up buildings and landmarks in red, white and blue.

Until July 4, the foundation’s flag will remain on the move.

“(Sojourn 250) honors our nation’s most prized symbol, and pays tribute to all of our countrymen and women, including those who have given their lives in service to the ideals the flag represents,” Nicholas said.

Nicholas believes the flag also can serve another purpose in these divided times.

“In addition to freedom, liberty and honor, the flag represents the American common ground. Anyone who follows the news knows there’s division everywhere,” he said. “The flag is something that can bring us together. We want it to touch all Americans.”