The flag of the United States is a symbol of freedom before which Americans recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

The flag's 13 red and white stripes represent the 13 original colonies.  Its 50 white stars on a blue background represent the 50 states.

 

Each of the colors on the flag has a meaning:

 

A star is added to the flag when a new state joins the United States.  The flag was last modified on July 4, 1960, when Hawaii was incorporated as a state.

 

Learn more about the evolution of the American flag and its earlier designs.

Who designed the original "Start and Stripes" flag of the United States is a point never definitely confirmed.  Was it Betsy Ross, expert Philadelphia seamstress, or New Jersey's Congressman Francis Hopkinson?

 

The traditional story that Betsy Ross designed the original flag in 1776 has caught the popular fancy but, no official record substantiates the story.  Some historians claim that in June 1776, Gen. George Washington, Robert Morris, and Betsy's uncle, George Ross went to her Philadelphia upholstery shop.  The men told her they were members of a congressional committee.  They showed her a rough design of a stars and stripes flag and asked her if she would make the emblem.  She said yes and recommended making the stars five-pointed instead of six.  The change was approved.

 

George Washington drew another design, and Betsy Ross sewed the emblem.  On June 14, 1777, Congress adopted it as the official U.S. flag.  That is the Betsy Ross story as it is related. However, some sources claim there is no official record of a congressional flag committee.  The only documented evidence naming Mrs. Ross is said to be a voucher dated May 29, 1777, showing that she was paid 14 pounds and some shillings for flags she made for the Pennsylvania Navy. 

 

Recent historic research indicates Francis Hopkinson, a consultant to the Second Continental Congress is responsible for designing the original Stars and Stripes.

 

Learn more about Betsy Ross.

 

For more than a century the "Star Spangled Banner," written by Francis Scott Key in 1814, was sung as a popular patriotic air.  From time to time Army and Navy leaders designated it as the national anthem for official occasions. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed it the national anthem.  Continuous lobbying by the Veterans of Foreign Wars led to Congress designating the song as the official national anthem of the United States on March 3, 1931.

 

Francis Scott Key practiced law in Baltimore during the War of 1812.  In 1814, one of Key's friends, Dr. Beanes, was held prisoner by the British aboard the ship Minden in Baltimore harbor. Key decided he would try to obtain his friend's release.  Carrying a flag of truce and a letter from President James Madison, Key rowed out to the ship. His request for the friend's freedom was granted, but both men were detained onboard because the British were about to bombard Fort McHenry.

 

During the bombardment, Key watched the Stars and Stripes flying over the fort.  Darkness fell, and he no longer could see the flag.  But the fort kept on firing back at the British, so Key knew the American stronghold had not surrendered.

 

When daylight returned, Key was overjoyed to see that "the flag was still there."  Taking an old envelop from his pocket he wrote the stirring opening words, "O say, can you see by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, o'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?" 

 

After he returned ashore, Key completed the verse, which was later published in the Baltimore American, September 21, 1814.  It became popular immediately.  Later the words were set to the English "Anacreon in Heaven." which is the tune we sing today.

 

See the lyrics and learn more about the Star-Spangled Banner.

The name "Old Glory" was first applied to the U.S. flag by a young sea captain who lived in Salem, Mass.  On his 21st birthday, March 17, 1824, Capt. William Driver was presented a beautiful flag by his mother and a group of Salem girls.  Driver was delighted with the gift and named the flag "Old Glory."  Old Glory accompanied the captain on his may sea voyages.  In 1837 he quit sailing and settled in Nashville.  On patriotic days he displayed Old Glory proudly from a rope extending from his house to a tree across the street.

 

After Tennessee seceded from the Union in 1861, Captain Driver hid Old Glory, sewing it inside a comforter.  When the Union soldiers entered Nashville on February 25, 1862, Driver removed Old Glory from its hiding place.  He carried the flag to the capitol building and raised it above the state capitol.  Shortly before his death, the old sea captain placed a small bundle into the arms of his daughter.  He said to her: "Mary Jane, this is my ship's flag, Old Glory.  It has been my constant companion.  I love it as a mother loves her child.  Cherish it as I have cherished it."

The flag remained as a precious heirloom in the Driver family until 1922.  It was then sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., where it is carefully preserved under glass.

 

Learn more about Captain Driver and Old Glory.

 

The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by the socialist minister Francis Bellamy (1855-1931).  It was originally published in "The Youth's Companion” on September 8, 1892.  Bellamy had hoped that the pledge would be used by citizens in any country.

 

In its original form it read:

"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

 

In 1923, the words, "the Flag of the United States of America" were added.  At this time it read:

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

 

In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God," creating the 31-word pledge we say today.  Bellamy's daughter objected to this alteration.  Today it reads:

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Section 4 of the Flag Code states:

 

The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart.  When not in uniform men should remove any non-religious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart.  Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute."
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