The Katy community now has an American flag that be experienced by visually impaired individuals through touch, thanks to the efforts of Katy’s Daughters of the American Revolution Star of Destiny Chapter and the City of Katy Parks and Recreative Department.


The groups worked together to put in a special braille American Flag, along with the installation of a new flagpole at Katy Park, 5611 Gardenia in Katy. The new braille flag – a small bronze plaque within easy reach of park visitors -- was unveiled in special ceremonies at the park on June 7, with representatives of the City of Katy, Katy Independent School District, the DAR and the Sons of the American Revolution in attendance. The color guard of the Robert Rankin Chapter of the SAR posted the American flag at the event.


“Today’s ceremony symbolizes more than the addition of new structures,” said DAR Regent Laurel Cull, who opened the dedication. “It embodies our shared values: freedom, service, and inclusion. The braille flag ensures that the spirit of patriotism can be both seen and felt—a permanent and heartfelt reminder that the ideals of our nation are meant for everyone.”


The project was four years in the making, parks board member Susan Stormer told the Katy Times.

The original flash bronze braille tactile flag has stars in the upper left corner, each of which represents the 50 states and are arranged in nine rows in alternating clusters of six and five. The long smooth horizontal lines represent the red stripes. The end of each stripe is embossed with the braille dots 4, 5, 6 followed by the lower case "r," indicating the color red. The Pledge of Allegiance is embossed in standard font English literary braille code over the smooth red stripes.


“This graphic not only serves those Americans who have become blind but equally serves as a teaching/learning tactile aid for instructing blind students how the American flag appears to the sighted,” said Sharon Bourne, chair of the DAR’s Flag of the United States of America committee.


The braille American flag was created by Randolph Cabral, president of the Kansas Braille Transcription Institute, to honor his father, Jesus Sanchez “Chuy” Cabral, a World War II blind veteran.


The braille flag was endorsed by the Blinded Veterans Association during its 61st annual convention in Buffalo, New York, in 2006. In February 2008, through the combined efforts of the Blinded Veterans Association (BVA), KBTI and U.S. Congressman Todd Tiahrt, along with 16 others, co-sponsored bill H.R. 4169, which passed the House on February 14, 2008. Congress unanimously authorized placement of a bronze monument of the Braille Flag at Arlington National Cemetery as a tribute to blind veterans of all wars, and other blind Americans. In April of 2008, the braille flag was officially installed at the cemetery representing a braille replica of the U.S. American Flag.