Our nation’s foremost symbol - Old Glory - will be given a fitting Flag Day tribute, sponsored by the historic 117-year-old Allentown Flag Day Association, during a rain-or-shine flag-raising event, set for noon June 14 at Allentown city hall’s plaza.

Participants include the Allentown Police Department Honor Guard’s flag folding drill; keynote addresses by Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong and Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk; and patriotic vocals by Joshua A. Fink.

The public is encouraged to participate in this tribute.

A receptacle will also be available at the entrance to city hall through June 15 to properly dispose of tattered flags.

Continuing in the 117-year tradition, the Allentown Flag Day Association will proudly sponsor a concert by the Great Allentown Band 7 p.m. in Allentown’s West Park at 16th and Turner streets. Celebrated soprano soloist Evelyn Stewart will be featured.

The concert is open to the public with a free will donation to benefit the Association’s mission. The rain site is the Lehigh Valley Active Life Senior Center, 1633 W. Elm St., Allentown.

The flag will be waving proudly to the selections of Allentown Band Conductor Ron Demkee with John Philip Sousa’s ”Stars and Stripes Forever,” a tribute to all veterans during the “Armed Forces Salute” and classics such as “Yankee Doodle” and “Selections from 1776.”

Stewart will lead the national anthem as well as perform the traditional favorites of “America the Beautiful” and “God Bless America.”

A Flag Day address will be given by U.S. Navy retired Rear Adm. David P. Keller, a native of New Tripoli and a graduate of Northwestern Lehigh High School, Muhlenberg College and George Washington University.

The three winners of the Association’s annual essay contest, held in all Allentown middle schools on the role of the American flag in their life, will recite their essays. Sisters Michelle Peters and Andrea Bohner will present their nostalgic Allentown Romper Day flag drill accompanied by the Allentown Band.

The Allentown Flag Day Association, the oldest incorporated Flag Day association in the United States, was founded in 1907 by Allentown resident Joe Hart.

The Association also proudly presents a colorful certificate to each new naturalized citizen in Lehigh County.