June 14 is Flag Day, celebrating the 13 stripes and the 50 stars that symbolize our humble beginnings and our growth into one unified nation.

On June 14, 1777, in Philadelphia, the Second Continental Congress adopted a resolution that read the following: “Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field representing a new constellation.”

The resolution didn't mention the significance behind the choice of red, white and blue -- because the three colors did not have any official meaning when the flag was adopted in 1777.

But have you ever stopped to think about the meaning of the flag’s colors? There’s plenty of symbolism there too. Red implies hardiness and valor. White stands for purity and innocence. Blue signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice. These qualities that our country was founded on should carry through in our lives and businesses today.

In an article on Time.com, Mike Buss, a flag expert with the American Legion, says that the most obvious reason for the flag’s colors is that they were simply taken from our mother country’s flag -- the Union Jack of England. “Our heritage does come from Great Britain, and that was some of the thought process that went about in coming up with our flag,” Buss says in the article.

I think it’s also important to connect how these colors relate to our working lives.

RED: Hardiness and valor stand for the ability to endure difficult conditions; determination in facing great danger, courage and bravery.

Determination keeps people hammering away. Determined people possess the stamina and courage to pursue their ambitions despite criticism, ridicule or unfavorable circumstances. In fact, discouragement usually spurs them on to greater things. When they get discouraged, they recognize that to change their results, some change is in order.

Courage is regarded as one of the major human virtues. Courage is bravery, valor, standing up to danger, guts and nerve all rolled into one. It’s easy to be ordinary. Courage is what sets us apart from the crowd.

WHITE: Purity and innocence are synonymous. They stand for freedom from moral wrong and simplicity. Those are tall orders in our complicated world, but worth striving for. Way back in 1872, Sen. Carl Schurz of Missouri paraphrased Naval hero Stephen Decatur with these patriotic words: “Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right; when wrong, to be put right.” That sentiment is purity at its best.

Sen. Schurz would settle for nothing less than the best for his country. Similarly, we should demand the best of our businesses. Doing things right should be a way of life.

BLUE: Vigilance, perseverance and justice are self-explanatory. Justice translates to fair play, honesty and integrity.

Perseverance separates the winners from the losers. Success in life depends on your willingness to never give up, even when the reward is delayed.

Honesty, ethics, integrity -- in my estimation, you can interchange them, because they all convey the single attribute that determines whether a person or an organization can be trusted. Honesty is always the best policy. You must be able to trust the people with whom you work. Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing to do.

Integrity: either you have it or you don’t. It’s not something that you can have one day and not have the next. Integrity begins at the top. As leaders, we must set the example -- that alone inspires employees to do right. Enduring leaders know that the numbers will be better if integrity is not optional.

Our national values are well represented in the colors of our flag. Fly it proudly.

Mackay’s Moral: People who love their country best strive to make it best.

I have always been a fan of comics, or what I call the funny pages. Recently I was looking at "The Family Circus,” by Bil and Jeff Keane. The littlest boy has a cupboard open and is looking at various boxes of food when his older brother sees him and says, “Conscience is like Mommy tellin’ you not to do somethin’, but she isn’t there.”

Or as I like to say, act like your mother is watching. All the time.

Conscience is that little voice inside that tells us what we already know is right or wrong. Unfortunately for some, when it is talking, they aren’t listening. And that’s when the trouble begins. Whether in our personal or business life, it’s important to heed that little voice.

Perhaps you remember the lesson that Jiminy Cricket taught to Pinocchio: “Always let your conscience be your guide.” It may seem elementary, but our consciences are actually formed when we're children, long before many other personality traits are developed.

Investor’s Business Daily identified 10 traits for getting ahead in business and turning your dreams into reality. They included many things you would expect: a positive attitude, a definitive goal, a courageous spirit, an inquisitive mind, a strong heart, an analytical brain, a focused eye, a fearless approach and a disciplined tongue. No. 10 on the list was a clear conscience.

Like “The Family Circus” cartoon, these traits harkened back to the lessons of childhood. Don’t forget the rules you learned in kindergarten. Play nice. Be dependable. Tell the truth. If you can’t get to the top by being true to yourself and straight with everyone around you, your success will be hollow -- and probably short-lived.

As businesspeople, we need to be critically aware of our role in keeping things honest. People are watching, and given the 24-hour news cycle and the reach of social media, we need to understand that taking chances with the truth is never worth the risk.

Consider these lessons from two highly principled leaders.

Once, when President Harry Truman was asked what principles guided his career, he said that he let his conscience be his guide. He elaborated: "What more can a man do? Do the best you can. Sometimes you come out successfully, sometimes you don’t. You have to have luck and ability and be ready to meet the situation as it comes. All this happened to me. I never thought I would go to the United States Senate, but then, I never thought I would go to the White House either.”

Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi said he had a formula for achieving balance. His prescription called for recognizing and avoiding the seven big sins of life: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice and politics without principle.

Do you detect a theme here? Most of them relate to having a clear conscience.

Make no mistake: Customers are watching how businesses perform through an ethical lens. Businesses cannot hide their questionable practices for long -- they will be exposed. Trying to mend a bad reputation is a lot harder than maintaining a good one.

Just ask the big bank that’s in the news for questionable sales practices. Or the airbag maker whose defective products are hurting people instead of protecting them. Or the movie mogul who went from the top of the heap to the bottom of the barrel after multiple accusations of inappropriate behavior surfaced.

But you don’t have to make national headlines for your true colors to be exposed. Doing business with the shopkeeper in this following anecdote might be a challenge.

An eager-beaver salesperson was trying to have a country storekeeper carry his product, and finally tried to bribe the fellow with a bottle of champagne.

“Oh, my conscience wouldn’t let me take a gift,” the storekeeper protested.

“What if I sell it to you for one dollar?” asked the salesperson.

“In that case,” replied the man, “I’ll take two.”

Mackay’s Moral: Putting profit before principle is always bad business.

Baseball season is in full swing, but it might be a very different game if Pete Browning had not broken his bat in 1884.

The story of how the iconic Louisville Slugger baseball bat came to be is fascinating. According to the famous bat company’s history, it all began when the 17-year-old son of J.F. Hillerich skipped out of work one day to watch a local baseball game. Browning, the star of the hometown team, broke his bat during the game. Young Bud Hillerich, a woodworking apprentice, invited him to his father’s woodshop, offering to make a new bat for him.

Browning, who was known as the “Louisville Slugger,” used the new bat and had three hits in his next game. Pretty soon, more players started to visit the shop for bats.

Bud’s father was not pleased by this development, until it became quite apparent that the growing demand for bats and the ensuing profits could not be denied. And the Louisville Slugger became more than one hitter’s nickname.

Currently, more than 3,000 Louisville Sluggers are manufactured each day, and that number swells to 5,000 during spring training. Young Bud Hillerich saw an opportunity to help one person and changed the face of the sport.

Baseball teaches many lessons and offers plenty of inspiration, even from decades-old stories. So many examples of innovation and perseverance come from the sport. And they often relate to business.

We’re often told in business that we should work on our weaknesses instead of our strengths, but let me tell you about Jim Kaat, who pitched many years for my hometown Minnesota Twins. Kaat went to talk to his new pitching coach, Johnny Sain, during spring training before the 1966 season. Sain asked Kaat to name his top four pitches and what pitches he felt he should work on the most.

Kaat said his best pitch was his fastball, followed by his curve, slider and changeup. He thought if he improved on his slider and changeup, he would have a good season.

His coach disagreed. Sain told him: “I want you to take a different approach. Work on your fastball. I know it’s your favorite pitch, so go out there in practice, warm-ups and during games and concentrate on your fastball. Throw your fastball 80 to 90 percent of the time all year, and you’ll win a lot of ball games.”

That season, Kaat threw fastball after fastball and won 25 games to become the American League’s pitcher of the year.

I’m a big believer in continuous improvement. We all can use extra practice and work to get better. I have a saying: "Good, better, best; never rest until good be better and better, best."

Then there’s the value of encouragement.

When Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play major league baseball, was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers, he became a target for racial hate mail and even death threats. Before one game, Robinson received a threatening phone call that left him so shaken that he was unable to concentrate on the game.

Robinson struck out in one inning with bases loaded. In another inning, he committed a fielding error. The crowd screamed obscenities at him. A time-out was called and the Dodger shortstop, Pee Wee Reese, walked up to the shaken Robinson, put his arm around him, and said: “Jackie, you are the greatest ballplayer I have ever seen. You can do it. And I know something else. One of these days you are going into the Hall of Fame. So, hold your head up high and play ball like only you can do it.”

Robinson went on to deliver a game-winning hit for his team.

Many years later, Robinson recalled the incident when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He said of Pee Wee Reese: “He saved my life and my career that day. I had lost my confidence, and Pee Wee picked me up with his words of encouragement. He gave me hope when all hope was gone.”

Mackay’s Moral: You’ll knock it out of the park if you learn these baseball lessons.