The FlagSSS Day Collective (Elizabeth (EP) Press, Angela Beallor, Hana van der Kolk, and other contributors) formed in 2019 after national Flag Day ceased celebration in Troy, NY. Flag Day originated in the 1960s as a patriotic and anti-dissent holiday, reacting against the anti-Vietnam War protests at the time. We recognize that many in Troy enjoyed the parade and for some it didn't necessarily connect to that history. However, this kind of war mongering propaganda and action left a traumatic residue. The FlagSSS Day Collective seeks to engage our city in celebrations of multiplicity against this history. With respect to long traditions of intertwining celebration and challenge, protest with party, dissent with a dedication to joy, the Collective is nimble, flexible, and ever-changing. We organize a procession in honor of the crow population of Troy every December, a FlagSSS Day procession every year in June, community flag-making workshops, and other rituals and gatherings on occasion. We also entwine with others’ events and spaces such as The Quiet Parade, The Earthling Parade, Lesbian Lives Conference 2025, and Collar Works.

On June 14, 2025 we will host our annual FlagSSS Day parade with the theme of Red!: Our Inseparable Fires. In a time of multiple, intertwining emergencies, we call on our community to create red flags, banners, capes, accessories, and other art work and to come together in simultaneous rage/resistance/grief and solidarity/celebration. Red is fire, red is emergency, red is rage and passion, red is poppies and watermelons (Palestinian solidarity), red is blood and the insides of our bodies, red is earth, red is roses (worker’s rights), red is red umbrellas and red lights (sex worker rights), red is resistance and revolution, and red is more light and less symbolically loaded things like tomatoes, lobsters, strawberries, sun burns and cardinals. In advance of the parade, we will host multiple community flag- and banner-making workshops, which will result in a series of screen printed flags, a large-scale banner, and more.

Workshops and builds will be held:

May 21, 2025 from 4-7pm – Oakwood Community Center – 313 10th St, Troy, NY 12180

June 3, 2025 from 4-7pm – Refuge Event Space – 1813 5th Ave, Troy, NY 12180

June 8, 2025 from 2-5pm – Collar Works – 50 4th St, Troy, NY 12180

More at https://flagsssday.org

Follow us on Instagram @flagsssday.troyny.

Check out the interview with Angela Beallor and Hana van der Kolk about the first ever FlagSSS Day in 2019: https://archive.org/details/media-sanctuary-troys-1st-ever-flagsss-day