What do you know about the flag of the United States?

by Barbara Latta

Flag that flew over Iwo Jima

June 14 is recognized as Flag Day. But do you know why?

On June 14, 1777 during the Revolutionary War, Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the official national flag.

“Resolved, that the Flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

Here are a few flag facts you may not know:

The 50-star flag flies today.

• Because no further instructions were given, early flags often had different dimensions and arrangements. Sometimes the stars formed a circle, some had six points, others had eight. Some flag makers even sewed the stars onto the stripes.
• When the flag was one hundred years old on June 14, 1877, the first widespread observance was held. President Woodrow Wilson established Flag Day as an annual celebration in 1916 and in 1949 Congress and President Truman made June 14 a permanent observance.
• Betsy Ross probably didn’t create the first flag. Her name is not mentioned in reference to the flag until 40 years after her death. Instead, New Jersey Congressman Francis Hopkins made the claim.
• The first 50-star flag was designed by a high school student who made the flag for a school project. President Eisenhower was accepting ideas for an updated flag to include Alaska and Hawaii and Robert Heft’s design is the one the president chose.
• Of the six flags planted on the moon, five are still standing. One fell after exhaust from Apollo 11 knocked it over.
• The Flag Desecration Amendment failed in 2006 which would have prohibited burning the flag for political reasons. Unfortunately, some who were elected under the banner’s protection didn’t vote to protect it.

Happy Flag Day! What does the flag mean to you?