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History of the Flag
History of the Flag
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica.
The first official American flag, the
Continental or Grand Union flag, was displayed on Prospect Hill, Jan. 1, 1776,
in the American lines besieging Boston. It had 13 alternate red and white
stripes, with the British Union Jack in the upper left corner. On June 14,
1777, the Continental Congress adopted the design for a new flag, which
actually was the Continental flag with the red cross of St. George and the
white cross of St. Andrew replaced on the blue field by 13 stars, one for each
state. No rule was made as to the arrangement of the stars, and while they
were usually shown in a circle, there were various other designs. It is
uncertain when the new flag was first flown, but its first official
announcement is believed to have been on Sept. 3, 1777. The first public
assertion that Betsy Ross made the first Stars and Stripes appeared in a paper
read before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania on March 14, 1870, by
William J. Canby, a grandson. However, Mr. Canby on later investigation found
no official documents of any action by Congress on the flag before June 14,
1777. Betsy Ross's own story, according to her daughter, was that Washington,
Robert Morris, and George Ross, as representatives of Congress, visited her in
Philadelphia in June 1776, showing her a rough draft of the flag and asking
her if she could make one. However, the only actual record of the manufacture
of flags by Betsy Ross is a voucher in Harrisburg, Pa., for 14 pounds and some
shillings for flags for the Pennsylvania navy. On Jan. 13, 1794, Congress
voted to add two stars and two stripes to the flag in recognition of the
admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the Union. By 1818, there were 20 states
in the Union, and as it was obvious that the flag would soon become unwieldy,
Congress voted April 18 to return to the original 13 stripes and to indicate
the admission of a new state simply by the addition of a star the following
July 4. The 49th star, for Alaska, was added July 4, 1959; and the 50th star,
for Hawaii, was added July 4, 1960. The first Confederate flag, adopted in
1861 by the Confederate convention in Montgomery, Ala., was called the Stars
and Bars; but because of its similarity in colors to the American flag, there
was much confusion in the Battle of Bull Run. To remedy this situation, Gen.
G. T. Beauregard suggested a battle flag, which was used by the Southern
armies throughout the war. The flag consisted of a red field on which was
placed a blue cross of St. Andrew separated from the field by a white fillet
and adorned with 13 1 white stars for the Confederate states. In May 1863, at
Richmond, an official flag was adopted by the Confederate Congress. This flag
was white and twice as long as wide; the union, two-thirds the width of the
flag, contained the battle flag designed for Gen. Beauregard. A broad
transverse stripe of red was added Feb. 4, 1865, so that the flag might not be
mistaken for a signal of truce. 1. 11 states formally seceded, and unofficial
groups in Kentucky and Missouri adopted ordinances of secession. On this
basis, these two states were admitted to the Confederacy, although the
official state governments remained in the Union.
The Pledge of Allegiance
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.
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