The American Flag 101
Brief History of the Flag
The American flag has long been a symbol of the values held by our Founding Fathers: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Betsy Ross, a widowed seamstress living in Philadelphia, created the first flag for all of the colonies in May 1776 at the urging of General George Washington and several other members of the Continental Congress.
The flag was hand sewn just two months before the colonies declared independence from Great Britain and the crown. Prior to that time, various colonies and militias had used their own flags, ranging in design from the Rattlesnake Flag with its infamous “don’t tread on me” to those
More Than Just a Flag
The freedom we enjoy as American citizens has not, nor has ever, been given freely. It was hard fought and hard won, requiring enormous sacrifice on the parts of military service members and their families. Today that freedom is still hard fought, and the sacrifices made just as enormous.
Making sure we honor current American service members and veterans is essential. Whether you donate your time or your money, or even only fly a new flag in support of their service, we can all do more to show how grateful we are to those extraordinary individuals who give everything of themselves to make this a better country for everyone else.
The American flag represents the United States of America. It is an important part of our country and should be cared for in the manner it deserves.
The American flag should be displayed from sunrise to sunset at all government buildings and schools. The flag should be attached to a stationary flagstaff that has a prominent place out in the open so the flag can fly free and unencumbered. The flag should only be flown in good weather unless a flag that is constructed of weather resistant material is used. Flying a torn and tattered flag is not respectful.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted an American flag on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. But where did it come from? There are a few theories, but ultimately no one seems to know for certain. Dolores Black, a former seamstress for a flag company in Milwaukee, thinks she may have sewn it. She stated during an interview that she had sewn her name inside the webbing that would have been used to attach the flag to a pole. Unfortunately, that webbing and the manufacturer's labels had to be removed in order to affix the flag to its aluminum pole, so even were someone to launch a multi-billion dollar operation to inspect it, there is no way to verify her assertion. According to NASA itself, the flag was purchased off-the-shelf,Read more »
At its most basic level, a flag is simply fabric, some color, maybe a pattern, and some stitching to pull it all together. However, a flag is not the sum of the materials that make it up; the worth of a flag is in the sum of ideas that it represents. While Betsy Ross understood that the cloth she fabricated into 13 stars, and 13 stripes was to represent a burgeoning nation, she could not have foreseen what that banner would come to represent, what would become the fabric of the nation that was coming to life.Read more »
The American Flag at the White HouseRather, flying over the White House, or your own house, our American flag is now a universal symbol of liberty, freedom, and democracy the world over. Rather, raised