See the American Flag waving on the world-famous Pacific Wheel for Flag Day

Published on June 7, 2020

The Ferris wheel on the Santa Monica Pier will display a 90ft tall, animated flag for Flag Day on June 14th.

In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. Pacific Park’s Pacific Wheel will be lit red, white and blue and feature a waving American flag.

This special lighting event will take place on the evening of Sunday, June 14th. The Ferris wheel lights can be seen from dusk until 11:30 PM each evening. Enjoy watching the light program from the comfort of your own home on our live-streaming web cams at www.pacpark.com/live.

President Woodrow Wilson established June 14 as Flag Day in 1916; National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress about 30 years later. Flag Day is not an official federal holiday, but it is at the President’s discretion to officially proclaim the national observance. The week of June 14 is designated as “National Flag Week.” During National Flag Week, the President will issue a proclamation “urging the people to observe the day as the anniversary of the adoption on June 14, 1777, by the Continental Congress of the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States of America.” The flag should also be displayed on all government buildings. Many citizens join in by displaying flags outside their homes and businesses.

Some states observe the holiday independent from the federal mandate. Pennsylvania became the first U.S. state to celebrate Flag Day as a state holiday in June 1937; New York designates the second Sunday in June as Flag Day. The oldest continuing Flag Day parade is in Fairfield, WA; They have held a parade every year since 1910, with the possible exception of 1918.

Pacific Park regularly programs the Ferris wheel to display seasonal programing and themed light designs for holidays and special occasions. The Pacific Wheel’s state-of-the-art lighting package was installed in 2016 and can display over 1.6 million different colors and animate patterns and icons in 24 frames per second. The energy efficient LEDs on the face of the Ferris wheel are powered by solar arrays inside Pacific Park. The light programs are curated and designed by Pacific Park staff. Each design is manually animated; some designs can take hours of programming. The aim is to provide fun, high-energy, and sometimes whimsical designs to entertain guests on the Santa Monica Pier and surrounding beaches.

The Ferris wheel’s light programs can be seen nightly lighting the waters around the Santa Monica Pier and are regularly featured in news broadcasts across the country. Pacific Park accepts special lighting requests from the public as part of a sponsorship arrangement with the Park. Because of the large volume of these requests, not all submissions can be met, and the Park no longer offers pro bono lighting requests. To learn more about these and other opportunities to partner with Pacific Park, please visit www.pacpark.com/sponsorships.

Feature image courtesy of @edgarva11es.