Expeditionary Combat Readiness Center (ECRC) raised the American flag for the first time during a ceremony held at ECRC headquarters, Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, on Flag Day, June 14. ECRC recently finished installation of a new 30-foot flagpole in front of their headquarters building and elected to wait and raise their first flag in honor of Flag Day. The first national observance of Flag Day took place in 1877 on the centennial of June 14, 1777, when the stars and stripes officially came into being as the symbol of a new nation authorized by the 2nd Continental Congress. “Just as it has done for over 230 years, the American flag carries a message of freedom to all who see it.