THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN FLAG

American flag what does it mean

The Continental Congress issued a law designating a national flag for the fledgling country on June 14, 1777. “Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternately red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a field of blue, indicating a new constellation,” read the resolution. President Harry S. Truman proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day in writing on August 3, 1949.

As intriguing as the history of the American Republic itself is the history of our flag. It has endured conflicts, served as inspiration for songs, and changed as the nation it represents expanded. The following is a list of fun trivia and traditions regarding the American flag and how it should be flown:

Origins | American Flag What Does It Mean

The first American flag’s provenance is a mystery. According to some historians, it was crafted by Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross and designed by New Jersey congressman Francis Hopkinson.

A enormous, 10-by-17-foot flag with the moniker “Old Glory” was owned by a marine captain from Massachusetts named William Driver.

Driver’s flag is supposed to have withstood more efforts to deface it during the Civil War than any other American flag has, according to legend. Once the war was over, Driver was able to raise the flag over the Tennessee Statehouse. The flag was last on display in Tennessee with permission from the Smithsonian at an exhibition in 2006 and is a key artifact at the National Museum of American History. influencing the popular moniker

Age of Glory Hugh Talman/NMAH, SI provided the image.

Between 1777 and 1960, Congress issued a number of laws that altered the flag’s size, composition, and design while also allowing the addition of stars and stripes to signify the entrance of each new state.

Currently, the flag has 13 horizontal stripes, with seven red and six white stripes alternating. The stars stand in for the 50 states of the Union, while the stripes stand in for the original 13 colonies. The flag’s colors have meaning as well; red denotes tenacity and bravery, white purity and innocence, and blue vigilance, perseverance, and justice.

The massive garrison flag from 1814, which survived the British soldiers’ 25-hour bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore and served as the inspiration for Francis Scott Key’s composition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” has been preserved at the National Museum of American History. The flag, which was frequently referred to by that moniker, was taken out of the museum in December 1998 because it had grown weak and dirty over time. This preservation project started in earnest in June 1999 and is still ongoing. The flag is currently kept in a unique low-oxygen, filtered light chamber at a 10-degree angle and is periodically inspected at the microscopic level to look for signs of deterioration or damage inside its individual fibers. enduring preservation effort

There are a few places where the American flag is required to be flown continuously, either by presidential proclamation or by law:

• Baltimore, Maryland’s Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
• Baltimore’s Flag House Square, Maryland
• Arlington, Virginia’s United States Marine Corps Memorial (Iwo Jima).
• In the Town of Lexington, Massachusetts, on the Green
• Washington, D.C.’s White House
• Ports of entry for US customs
• The National Memorial Arch’s grounds in Pennsylvania’s Valley Forge State Park

Inspiration

After a British bombardment, Francis Scott Key, a novice poet, was moved to write “The Star-Spangled Banner” on September 14, 1814, by the sight of the American flag still flying over Baltimore’s Fort McHenry. In 1931, it was formally adopted as our national anthem.

The Pledge of Allegiance was penned in 1892 by James B. Upham and Francis Bellamy with inspiration from the flag. The Youth’s Companion magazine is where it first appeared.

On Distant Shores

In Libya, over Fort Derne on the coast of Tripoli, the American flag was flown for the first time over a foreign fort in 1805.

Robert Peary planted an American flag at the North Pole in 1909, which was sewed by his wife. Along the way, he also left fragments of an other flag. Only once has someone been recognized for slashing the flag.

Barry Bishop raised the American flag atop Mount Everest in 1963.

When Neil Armstrong planted the American flag on the moon in July 1969, it was “flew” through space. On each of the Apollo program’s six manned landings, flags were planted on the lunar surface.

Displaying the Stars and Stripes

Typically, the flag is raised from dawn till dusk. It should be ceremoniously raised and lowered. The flag should not be flown in bad weather.

Weather allowing, the flag shall be flown on or near the major administrative buildings of all public institutions every day and on all holidays. Additionally, it should be put up in or close to every polling place on election days and every school during the school year.

The “union” field of stars should be uppermost and to the observer’s left when presented flat against a wall or window or in a vertical orientation.

Everyone, save those in uniform, should face the flag with the right hand over the heart as it is raised or lowered as part of a ceremony, as it goes by in a procession, or during a review.

The American flag should never be lowered toward anyone or anything, and it should never touch the ground.