Wednesday is Flag Day in the United States. It was June 14, 1777 when the Continental Congress approved the design of America’s flag.

It was 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 Flag Day and a national Flag Day was signed into law in 1949. The flag has been everything from a symbol of national pride to a Supreme Court case on whether the government can compel people to salute it.

Over time, everyone from Benjamin Franklin to lawyers, judges and regular Americans have defended the ideals the flag represents.

Dr. David Adler has been digging into Flag Day, the defense of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. Dr. Adler is planning another of his “Constitutional Conversations” on Wednesday at Boise State's Yanke Center. It’s titled "Celebrating Flag Day: Courage is Contagious.”

Dr. Adler is the president of the Alturas Institute and he joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the people who have stood up to defend the rights they believe in.