DALTON, Ga. — Wednesday was celebrated as Flag Day in the United States, but Dalton resident Rebel Burton celebrates flags representing U.S. history all year long. 

“Everyone says a picture is worth a thousands,” said Burton. “Just stop and think how many millions of words a flag can tell you if you just stop and listen to it.”

Burton, who set up a display of state and U.S. flags on the Dalton Green in downtown on Wednesday, said flags tell the story of the states and countries they represent, illustrating where they came from, where they are now and where they are going. His display on Wednesday included all 50 states in order of admission to the Union, with U.S. flags from the appropriate time periods mixed in, and markers describing each flag and what the designs represents. 

“So you can walk from the Delaware (the first state admitted to the Union) flag on around and learn as much as I know,” said Burton, who began creating such displays around Dalton last year. “Some of the flags are really unique.”

Miranda Jones of Dalton said she was driving through the downtown area when she saw all the flags at the park and decided to stop and check them out. 

“It’s really interesting, but I have always been into history and things like that,” said Jones. “You can learn a lot about all the different state flags and some of the American flags of the past. It’s cool because the flags represent the people.” 

Burton moved to Dalton with other members of his family from California after he and his wife retired. It was in California that his flag effort began. He wanted to make events hosted by his veterans group — U.S. Navy Submarine Veterans Inc. — more interesting for people who attended every year, so he began changing up the flag displays. 

“People who go to these things every year, they would get up and say, let’s go see what Rebel has done this time,” said Burton, who added that attendance at such events saw about a 15 percent increase thanks to his flags. 

Burton said he served in the U.S. Navy from 1971 until 1981 as a 1st Class Torpedoman’s Mate. He’s something of a history buff, with a personal library of about 9,000 books (that number was higher, but he recently donated about 1,000 audio books to a local senior center). He said his interest in flags probably began in middle school, but it really started to gain momentum with the veterans events. 

Now he displays some of his 350 or so flags around town for important historic dates, as well as out front of Adventurer’s Books and More in downtown Dalton. His collection includes all the state flags, Confederacy flags, U.S. flags representing all stages of development of the country, military flags and more. 

Burton’s hopes people who see the displays are inspired to look more into the history of what each flag represents. 

“Those things, they are important,” he said. “Using flags is a good way to hopefully generate conversation.”

Burton’s next display is of pre-Civil War flags at the Huff House on Sunday, June 25, for a pre-Civil War music event. He’s also planning something for July 4, and he regularly swaps up the displays at Adventurer’s Books.