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the
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Flag of the United Statessvg
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The Stars and Stripes
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Old Glory
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/July_4" class="copylinks">July 4 , 1960 <small>(50-star version)</small>
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Thirteen horizontal stripes alternating red and white in the canton, 50 white stars on a blue field
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Various
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National
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Union Jack. Used as naval jack, 1960–2002.]]
The consists of 13 equal horizontal stripes of
Red (top and bottom) alternating with
White , with a
Blue rectangle in the
Canton bearing 50 small, white,
Five-pointed Star s arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the
50 U.S. States and the 13 stripes represent the original
Thirteen Colonies that rebelled against the
British Crown and became the first states in the Union.States are represented collectively; there is no meaning to particular stars nor stripes. Nicknames for the flag include "'''the Stars and Stripes'''" and "'''Old Glory'''", with the latter nickname coined by Captain
William Driver , a nineteenth century shipmaster.
Because of its symbolism, the starred blue canton is called the "union". This part of the national flag can stand alone as a
Maritime Flag called the No relation to the
Union Flag Of The United Kingdom to which this term more commonly refers. which served as the
U.S. Jack on warships from 1777 until 2002. It continues to be used as a jack by various federally-owned vessels, including those of the
Coast Guard ,
Military Sealift Command , and
National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration .
Though its design is similar to the flag of the
British East India Company , no substantive connection has been established.
The United States flag is among the nation's widely recognized and used symbols. Within the U.S. it is frequently displayed, not only on public buildings, but on private residences, as well as iconically in forms such as decals for car windows, and clothing ornaments such as badges and lapel pins. Throughout the world it is used in public discourse to refer to the U.S., both as a nation state, government, and set of policies, but also as an ideology and set of ideals.
Many understand the flag to represent the freedoms and rights guaranteed in the
U.S. Constitution and its
Bill Of Rights and perhaps most of all to be a symbol of individual and personal liberty as set forth in the
Declaration Of Independence . Through the
Pledge Of Allegiance and other political uses the flag has also come to be associated with U.S.
Nationalism ,
Patriotism , and even
Militarism . The flag is a complex and contentious symbol, around which emotions run high.
In terms of the symbolism of the design itself, a book about the flag published by the Congress in 1977 states:
"The star is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun."
1
George Washington is credited for saying:
"We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our
Mother Country , separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing Liberty."
2
Many people also take the red and white to stand for the blood of those who gave their lives for freedom, and the presumed purity of the freedom ideal, respectively.
The design of the flag is specified by sections 1
Title 4 Chapter 1 Section 1 Notes from
Cornell Law School U.S. Code Collection . and 2
Title 4 Chapter 1 Section 2 from
Cornell Law School U.S. Code Collection . of Title 4,
United States Code (
4 U.S.C. §§ 1, 2 (2004)). The specification gives the following values:
- Hoist (width) of the flag: A = 1.0
- Fly (length) of the flag: B = 1.9
- Hoist (width) of the Union: C = 0.5385 (7/13, spanning seven stripes)
- Fly (length) of the Union: D = 0.76 (1.9 × 2/5, two fifths of the flag length)
- E = F = 0.0538 (C/10, One tenth the width of the Union)
- G = H = 0.0633 (D/12, One twelfth the length of the Union)
- Diameter of star: K = 0.0616
- Width of stripe: L = 0.0769 (1/13)
Note that the flag ratio (B in the diagram) is not absolutely fixed. Although the diagram in Executive Order 10834 gives a ratio of 1.9, earlier in the order is a list of flag sizes authorized for executive agencies. This list permits eleven specific flag sizes (specified by height and width) for such agencies: 20.00 × 38.00; 10.00 × 19.00; 8.95 × 17.00; 7.00 × 11.00; 5.00 × 9.50; 4.33 × 5.50; 3.50 × 6.65; 3.00 × 4.00; 3.00 × 5.70; 2.37 × 4.50; and 1.32 × 2.50. Eight of these sizes conform to the 1.9 ratio, within a small rounding error (less than 0.01). However, three of the authorized sizes vary significantly: 1.57 (for 7.00 × 11.00), 1.27 (for 4.33 × 5.50) and 1.33 (for 3.00 × 4.00).
According to
Flags Of The World , the colors are specified by the
General Services Administration "Federal Specification, Flag, National, United States of America and Flag, Union Jack," DDD-F-416E, dated
November 27 ,
1981 . It gives the colors by reference to "Standard Color Cards of America" maintained by
The Color Association Of The United States , Inc., as:
According to the book "Our Flag," published by the House of Representatives, "The colors red, white, and blue did not have meanings for The Stars and Stripes when it was adopted in 1777." It goes on to say, on page 41 (page 47 of the PDF version)
3 that the colors of the
Great Seal Of The United States , when it was adopted in 1782, were defined thus: "White signifies Purity and Innocence; Red, Hardiness and Valor; Blue signifies Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice."
4
When
Alaska and
Hawaii were being considered for statehood, more than 1,500 designs were spontaneously submitted to
President Dwight D. Eisenhower by Americans. Although some of them were 49-star versions, the vast majority were 50-star proposals. At least three, and probably more, of these designs were identical to the present design of the 50-star flag. These designs are in the
Eisenhower Presidential Archives in
Abilene ,
Kansas . Only a small fraction of them have ever been published.
One legend states the union of the current 50-star flag was designed by
Robert G. Heft in 1958 while living with his grandparents in
Ohio . He was 18 years old at the time and did the flag design as a class project. His mother was a seamstress, but refused to do any of the work for him. He originally received a B- for the project. After discussing the grade with his teacher, it was agreed (somewhat jokingly) that if the flag was accepted by Congress, the grade would be reconsidered. Heft's flag design was chosen and adopted by presidential proclamation after Alaska and before Hawaii was admitted into the union in 1959.
5
At the time, credit was given by the
Executive Department to the
U.S. Army Bureau Of Heraldry for the design.
Traditionally, the flag may be decorated with
Golden Fringe surrounding the perimeter of the flag itself as long as it does not deface the flag proper. Ceremonial displays of the flag, such as those in
Parade s or on indoor posts, often utilize fringe to enhance the beauty of the flag. The first recorded use of fringe on a flag dates from 1835, and the
Army used it officially in 1895. No specific law governs the legality of fringe, but a 1925 opinion of the
Attorney General approves the use of fringe "...at the descretion
{Link without Title} of the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy...". The
United States Army Institute Of Heraldry , which has official custody of the flag designs, and makes any such change ordered, also confirms that there are no implications of symbolism in the use of fringe.
6
See Also: United States Flag Code
The refused, famously proclaiming that "this flag dips to no earthly king."
London Olympics 1908 & 1948 )
Although the Flag Code is U.S. Federal law, there is no penalty for failure to comply with the Flag Code and it is not widely enforced—indeed, punitive enforcement would conflict with the
First Amendment right to
Freedom Of Speech . Passage of the proposed
Flag Desecration Amendment would overrule legal precedent that has been established in this area.
Though not part of the official Flag Code, according to military custom flags should be folded into a triangular shape when not in use. This is said to invoke the image of the
Three-point Hats popular during the
American Revolutionary War . (The
Philippines , a
Former American Territory , also has this custom for folding its flag.) To properly fold the flag:
#Begin by holding it waist-high with another person so that its surface is parallel to the ground.
#Fold the lower half of the stripe section lengthwise over the field of stars, holding the bottom and top edges securely.
#Fold the flag again lengthwise with the blue field on the outside.
#Make a rectangular fold then a triangular fold by bringing the striped corner of the folded edge to meet the open top edge of the flag. Starting the fold from the left side over to the right
#Turn the outer end point inward, parallel to the open edge, to form a second triangle.
#The triangular folding is continued until the entire length of the flag is folded in this manner. On the last fold, any remnant that does not neatly fold into a triangle (or in the case of exactly even folds, the last triangle) is tucked into the previous fold.
#When the flag is completely folded, only a triangular blue field of stars should be visible.
The flag is customarily flown year-round from most public buildings, and it is not unusual to find private houses flying full-size flags.
Some private use is year-round, but becomes widespread on civic holidays like
Memorial Day ,
Veterans Day ,
Presidents' Day ,
Flag Day , and on
Independence Day . On Memorial Day it is common to place small flags by war memorials and next to the graves of U.S. war veterans.
raises the United States Flag on the surface of the
Moon during the
Apollo 14 mission.]]
By presidential proclamation, acts of Congress, and custom, American flags are displayed continuously at certain locations.
- By Congressional decree, a Civil War era flag (for the year 1863) flies above Pennsylvania Hall (Old Dorm) at Gettysburg College . This building, occupied by both sides at various points of the Battle Of Gettysburg , served as a lookout and battlefield hospital.
- In addition, the American flag is on continual display on the surface of the Earth's Moon , having been placed there by the astronauts of Apollo 11 , Apollo 12 , Apollo 14 , Apollo 15 , Apollo 16 , and Apollo 17 . It is possible that Apollo 11's flag was knocked down by the force of return to lunar orbit.
The flag should especially be displayed at full staff on the following days:
The US Flag is displayed at half staff as a sign of respect or mourning. Nationwide, this action is proclaimed by the president of the United States; state-wide or territory-wide, the proclamation is made by the governor. In addition, there is no prohibition against municipal governments, private businesses or citizens flying the flag at half staff as a local sign of respect and mourning. President
Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first proclamation on
March 1 ,
1954 standardizing the dates and time periods for flying the flag at half staff from all federal buildings, grounds, and naval vessels; other congressional resolutions and presidential proclamations ensued. However, they are only guidelines to all other entities: typically followed at state and local government facilities, and encouraged of private businesses and citizens
- May 15 - Peace Officers Memorial Day
- Last Monday in May - Memorial Day (until noon)
- July 27 - Korean War Veterans Day
- September 11 - Patriot Day
- December 7 - Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
- For 30 days - Death of a US President or former President
- For 10 days - Death of a US Vice President, Supreme Court Chief Justice/retired Chief Justice, or Speaker of the House of Representatives.
- From death until the day of interment - US Supreme Court Associate Justice, member of the Cabinet, former Vice President, President pro-tempore of the Senate, or the majority and minority leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives. Also for federal facilities within a state or territory, for the governor.
- On the day after the death - US Senators, Members of Congress, territorial delegates or the resident commissioner of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico
To properly fly the US flag at half staff, the protocol is to first hoist it briskly to full staff, then reverently (slowly) lower it to half-staff. Similarly, when the flag is to be lowered from half staff, it should be first hoisted briskly to full staff, then lowered reverently to the base of the flagpole.
The flag has been changed 26 times since the new, 13-state union adopted it. The 48-star version went unchanged for 47 years, the longest time the flag went unmodified until
July 4 ,
2007 , when the current 50-star flag broke the record.
Grand Union Flag ("Continental Colors").]]
At the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence,
July 4 ,
1776 , the United States had no official, national flag. The
Grand Union Flag has historically been referred to as the "First National Flag"; although it has never had any official status it was used throughout the
American Revolutionary War by
George Washington and formed the basis for the design of the first official US flag.
This flag is properly considered the ''de facto'' first .
The origins of the design are unclear. It closely resembles the
British East India Company (BEIC) flag of the same era, and an argument dating to Sir
Charles Fawcett in 1937 holds that the BEIC flag indeed inspired the design. However, the BEIC flag could have from 9 to 13 stripes, and was not allowed to be flown outside the Indian Ocean. Both flags could have been easily constructed by adding white stripes to a British
Red Ensign , a common flag throughout Britain and its colonies.
.]]
Another theory holds that the red-and-white stripe—and later, stars-and-stripes—motif of the flag may have been based on the Washington family
Coat-of-arms , which consisted of a shield "''argent'', two ''bars gules'', above, three ''mullets gules''" (a white shield with two red bars below three red stars).
More likely it was based on a flag of the
Sons Of Liberty , one of which consisted of 13 red and white alternating horizontal stripes.
13-star "Betsy Ross" flag
(original had all stars pointed outward, not upward)]]
On is now observed on June 14 of each year. A false tradition holds that the new flag was first hoisted in June of 1777 by the
Continental Army at the
Middlebrook Encampment .Guenter (1990)
The Flag Resolution did not specify any particular arrangement for the stars. The pictured flag shows the thirteen stars arranged in a circle, the so-called
Betsy Ross Flag . Although the Betsy Ross legend is not taken seriously by many historians, the design itself is the oldest version of any US flag to appear on any physical relic: it is historically referenced in contemporary battlefield paintings by John Trumbull and Charles Willson Peale, which depict the circular star arrangement. Popular designs at the time were varied and most were individually crafted rather than mass-produced. Given the scant archaeological and written evidence, it is unknown which design was the most popular at that time.
The origin of the stars and stripes design is uncertain. A popular story credits
Betsy Ross for sewing the first flag from a pencil sketch by George Washington who personally commissioned her for the job. However, no evidence for this theory exists beyond Ross' descendants' much later recollections of what she told her family. Another woman, Rebecca Young, has also been credited as having made the first flag by later generations of her family. Rebecca Young's daughter was Mary Pickersgill, who made the
Star Spangled Banner Flag . Another popular theory is that the flag was designed by
Francis Hopkinson . Hopkinson was the only person to have made such a claim during his own lifetime, when he sent a bill to Congress for his work. He asked for a "Quarter Cask of the Public Wine" as payment initially. The payment was not made, however, because it was determined he had already received a salary as a member of Congress, and he was not the only person to have contributed to the the design. It should be noted that no one else contested his claim at the time.
15-star, 15-stripe "Star-Spangled Banner" flag]]
48-star flag, was the second longest in use (1912–1959).]]
Camouflaged American
Flag Patch , as used by the
U.S. Military .]]
See Also: Flag Acts (U.S.)
In 1795, the number of stars and stripes was increased from 13 to 15 (to reflect the entry of Vermont and Kentucky as states of the union). For a time the flag was not changed when subsequent states were admitted, probably because it was thought that this would cause too much clutter. It was the 15-star, 15-stripe flag that inspired
Francis Scott Key to write "
The Star-Spangled Banner ," now the
National Anthem .
On
April 4 ,
1818 , a plan was passed by Congress at the suggestion of U.S. Naval Captain Samuel C. Reid
7 in which the flag was changed to have 20 stars, with a new star to be added when each new state was admitted, but the number of stripes would remain at thirteen to honor the
Original Colonies . The act specified that new flag designs should become official on the first
July 4 (
Independence Day ) following admission of one or more new states. The most recent change, from 49 stars to 50, occurred in 1960 when the present design was chosen, after
Hawaii gained statehood in August 1959. Before that, the admission of
Alaska in January 1959 prompted the debut of a short-lived 49-star flag.
As of
July 4 ,
2007 , the 50-star flag has become the longest rendition in use.
in October, and on
St. Eustatius in November. (Though later, the better documented St. Eustatius incident involving the
USS ''Andrew Doria'' is traditionally regarded as the "first salute".)
France was the first country to salute the Stars and Stripes, when a fleet off the French mainland returned a gun salute by Captain
John Paul Jones commanding the
USS ''Ranger'' on
February 14 ,
1778 .
{Link without Title}
In the following table depicting the 27 various designs of the United States flag, the star patterns for the flags are merely the ''usual'' patterns, often associated with the website.)
.
Proposed design for a
51-star Flag in the event of an additional state]]
See Also: 51st state
The
United States Army Institute Of Heraldry has plans for flags with up to 56 stars, using a similar staggered star arrangement should additional states accede. Moreover, there are continuing political movements supporting statehood in
Puerto Rico and
The District Of Columbia .
A number of non-standard flags appeared in the early years of American independence. One example is the design approximated here, of a flag traditionally believed to have been carried by the American troops at the
Battle Of Guilford Court House in 1781. This is disputed by some other historians who think it dates to the nineteenth century. The original flag is at the North Carolina Historical Museum.
See Also: Flags of the United States#Flags with similar designs
The
Flag Of Liberia bears a close resemblance, showing the ex–American-slave origin of the country. The Liberian flag has similar red and white stripes, though only 11 of them, as well as a blue square for the union, but with only a single large white star.
The
Flag Of Malaysia also has a striking resemblance, with red and white stripes (14 total), and a blue canton, but displaying instead of stars a
Star And Crescent emblem.
Though more dissimilar in appearance, the
Flag Of Cuba was also inspired by the flag of the United States. For example, the white star originally signified an aspiration to
U.S. Statehood . Its origins date from 1849, when Cuban liberation movements emerged among Cuban exiles in the U.S.
Another flag similar to the flag of the United States is the
Flag Of Puerto Rico . There are specific shades of red and blue for the construction of the flag, however there might be slight variations depending on the flag-flyer's
Political Beliefs . The pro-
Independence groups use a sky light blue, while the pro-
Statehood groups use a darker shade of blue.
