American Flag: History of US Flag

The national flag of the country signifies the spirit of the country and upholds the value the nation wishes to exhibit to the whole world. Similarly the American flag is also an important part of the American culture. Here we would discuss the history of the U.S. flag, the path that it treaded and the milestones that were created with its creation.

Description of the U.S. Flag

The flag consists of red horizontal stripes of equal length, alternatively placed with white strips. There is a blue rectangle in the top left hand corner of the flag, which has fifty five-pointed white stars arranged in the nine horizontal rows which have unequal number of stars. There are rows of five stars alternating with the rows of six stars.

The flag of America has developed in its appearance as well as its symbolic meaning in peace and in war. At one point in time the flag had a rattlesnake and the motto written on it was "Don’t tread on me." The fifty states that are represented by the fifty stars on the flag and the thirteen stripes which represent the thirteen colonies that initially rebelled against the British yoke and became the first states of United States of America. The flag has been a uniting factor whenever the country needed a thread that would bind them all together. During the crisis of 09/11 the flag served as the symbol of all Americans who were fighting against terrorism and were coping with the pain that it inflicted.

Background of the American Flag

According to a legend in America it is said that Betsy Ross made the first flag and she was the one who insisted on having five pointed stars on the flag instead of six pointed stars that the President wanted. She was a seamstress whom George Washington knew, the then leader of the Continental Army and he was the one who took a rough design of the flag to this gentlewoman and thus the flag was made. Though this urban legend has never been verified, it still interests enthusiasts.

The fact that is verified is that the first American flag, which was called the Grand Union flag or the Continental Colors, was hoisted at the command of George Washington near his headquarters near Boston on Jan 1st, 1776. The flag has been known as the Stars and the Stripes when the Continental Congress approved it as the first official flag, on June 14th, 1777. That was when the canton with the fifty stars was also introduced in the flag. The canton for the significance that it holds is also known as the "union" and if the canton stands alone it would serve as the maritime flag known as the Union Jack. The stars in the canton kept on increasing as the regions kept on adding to the American union until the last star was added on July 4th, 1960 with the addition of Hawaii as a state.

It is said that when Alaska and Hawaii were added to the states of United States, there were hundreds of designs that were sent by the citizens of America to the President and out of which approximately two or three actually suggested the design that the flag has now. One of the legends says that out of all these designs the design sent by Robert heft was actually the one that is the flag now. The interesting part is this that he did as a part of his class project and wise beyond his years to create a flag that had fifty stars whereas all the designers were designing forty starred flag anticipating the addition of another state. Heft sewed the flag himself and submitted it to his subject teacher who jokingly said that he would award Heft a instead of B- if the flag was accepted by the Congress. But then America was still not a fifty state union so the flag had to be kept until July 4th, 1960.

So this is how the "Star Spangled banner" came into being after going through many changes yet it holds the values of the nation entire.