Flag of the United States

The flag of the United States is a symbol that represents the United States of America. The modern flag consists of thirteen alternating red and white stripes arranged from top to bottom. A rectangular blue field is set in the upper left-hand corner of the flag. Upon this field are fifty white stars arranged in nine horizontal rows. The thirteen stripes represent the original thirteen British colonies that formed the United States in 1776. The stars represent the fifty US states. The first official US flag was commissioned by the Continental Congress in 1777. Though the symbolism behind its design remains a mystery, its colors were likely inspired by the Union Jack, the flag of Great Britain. As the United States grew, the flag evolved, adding more stars as each new state joined the union. While early flags tended to follow a general template, no specific rules governed the design. However, in the twentieth century, rules were established outlining how American flags were to be designed and displayed.

Background

Flags are typically pieces of fabric adorned with certain designs or color schemes. Flags can be used as symbols, to send messages, or simply as aesthetic design elements. The oldest-known flags were strips of cloth or metal that were hung from carved metal or wooden poles. These were closer to banners than true flags and served as symbols for kings and nobility. The banners were first used thousands of years ago and are pictured on ancient Greek coins and in Egyptian tombs.

During the medieval period, knights in battle carried elaborate cloth banners and wore heraldic symbols on their armor. These elements had specific designs that represented a noble family or lord in whose service the knight was employed. The different colors and designs of the banners were not only status symbols, but helped knights distinguish friend from foe in the heat of battle. The first flags to represent a specific region or country were developed by independent Italian city-states to act as a unifying national symbol.

When European explorers began to settle in North and South America in the sixteenth century, the new colonies adopted flags associated with their homelands. These may have been the royal standards of their homeland’s rulers or flags representing private companies given charter rights to territory in the Americas.

When the British began establishing colonies in North America, the national flag of England was known as the Cross of St. George. This flag had been in use since the thirteenth century and featured a simple red cross over a white background. In 1603, King James I assumed control over England, Scotland, and Ireland and the national flag was changed to represent this unification. The Cross of St. George was placed over the Scottish Cross of Saint Andrew—a white X set over a blue background—to create an early form of the Union Jack. A thinner red X was added to the flag in 1801 to represent Ireland.

Overview

In 1634, England ordered the use of the Union Jack restricted to ships of the Royal Navy, while the Cross of St. George was used as a national flag. In 1707, Queen Anne decreed that a new flag be flown over all British territory. The flag was a red field with the Union Jack featured in the upper left corner. Known as the British Red Ensign, or Meteor Flag, this was the first national flag to be used in the American colonies.

As relations between the colonies and Great Britain deteriorated in the years before the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), colonists often displayed flags of protest. These flags generally featured three types of images: the word liberty, a coiled snake, or a pine tree. In 1765, a group of revolutionaries from Massachusetts known as the Sons of Liberty hung a flag of nine alternating red and white vertical stripes they called the “rebellious stripes.” When the British outlawed use of the flag, the Sons of Liberty were said to have changed its design by making the stripes horizontal. By the time war had broken out in 1775, the flag had thirteen red and white stripes.

In the first years of the Revolutionary War, colonial troops marched under various regimental and militia flags. One of the first commonly used flags was designed by Christopher Gadsden, a colonel in the Continental Army and a delegate to the Continental Congress. The Gadsden flag, as it was called, was used aboard the ships of the newly formed colonial navy. The flag had a yellow field featuring a coiled snake and the words “Dont Tread on Me.”

The first true American flag was commissioned by George Washington after he was named commander of the Continental Army in 1775. Washington wanted a flag that represented the thinking of many colonial leaders at the time—that the colonies deserved the right to rule themselves but would still remain loyal to the British crown. The flag, which was known as the Grand Union Flag or the Continental Colors, featured thirteen horizontal red and white stripes with the Union Jack in the upper left-hand corner. Though this flag was never officially authorized by Congress, Washington is believed to have raised the flag during the siege of Boston on January 1, 1776.

Even after the United States declared its independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776, the Continental Colors remained the unofficial flag of the new nation. By this time, it was flown on US Navy ships and was symbolically presented to France in October 1776. However, the use of the Union Jack on the flag was confusing during battle and was sometimes interpreted by British troops as a sign of surrender.

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and quietly passed a resolution calling for the creation of a new national flag. The resolution decreed that the flag should have thirteen alternating horizontal red and white stripes with a blue field containing thirteen white stars “representing a new Constellation.” The resolution gave no details about the dimensions of the flag, the size of the blue field, or the arrangement of the stars. It is unknown who proposed the resolution and no mention was made indicating the symbolism of the colors.

Historians believed the colors were likely chosen because they matched the red, white, and blue of the Union Jack. At the time, the flag was not meant to be a national symbol, but was used as a method of communication. The flag did not become a symbol of US sovereignty until 1782. That year, the colors were incorporated into the Great Seal of the United States where they were recorded as having symbolic meaning. Red was seen as a symbol of hardiness and valor, white as purity and innocence, and blue as vigilance, perseverance, and justice.

With no definitive requirements for how flags were supposed to look, early American flags varied widely by design. Stars could have five, six, or eight points and be arranged in any manner. Some flags arranged the thirteen stars in vertical rows alternating between three and two stars. Others arranged the stars in a horseshoe shape or in a circle of twelve stars with one star in the center.

The most iconic early design featured the thirteen stars arranged in a circle at the center of the blue field. This design is often called the Betsy Ross Flag after the woman who is credited with sewing the first American flag. Though Ross was a seamstress and did sew flags at the time of the Revolutionary War, her story is likely an historical embellishment made years later by her grandson. Some historians believe the design was created by New Jersey Congressman Francis Hopkinson.

In 1791, Vermont became the fourteenth US state, and Kentucky followed a year later. In 1795, the flag was changed to feature fifteen red and white stripes and fifteen stars. As more states were added to the Union, the number of stars grew. The stripes remained at fifteen until 1818 when Congress passed a law reducing their number to thirteen to represent the original colonies.

Two American flags became iconic national symbols of the United States in the nineteenth century. In 1814, poet Francis Scott Key observed the flag being raised over Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, after a victory against the British during the War of 1812. Key wrote a poem honoring the event and referred to the flag as the Star-Spangled Banner. The poem was later repurposed as a song and became the national anthem of the United States. In 1824, Massachusetts sea captain William Driver was given his first command and began flying a large US flag on his ship’s mast. Driver took the flag with him on many voyages around the world over his career. After he retired to Tennessee, Driver nicknamed the flag Old Glory and often flew it at his home. During the American Civil War (1861–1865), Driver defended the flag from Confederates and kept it hidden until the end of the war. When Union troops arrived in the region, Driver presented them with Old Glory and the flag was flown over the Tennessee statehouse. The flag became famous and the name Old Glory became synonymous with the American flag itself.

The flag was not often revered as a national symbol by the average person prior to the start of the Civil War. Once the South seceded from the Union, many people in the North began flying the flag at their homes as a show of patriotism. From this point on, the flag increasingly became associated with national pride among the American people. The first laws designed to protect and preserve American flags were passed in the late nineteenth century.

By the start of the twentieth century, the United States had grown to include forty-eight states and the number of stars on the flag had been increased to reflect that fact. Still, with no specific design rules in place, the arrangement of the stars and stripes continued to vary widely. In 1912, President William Howard Taft signed an executive order establishing official proportions for the flag and the arrangement of the stars. The stars were to be five-pointed with one point facing up, and arranged in six rows of eight stars each. The US flag remained this way until the states of Alaska and Hawaii were added in 1959. The fifty stars were arranged on the flag in nine rows, alternating between six and five stars per row. This arrangement was suggested by a seventeen-year-old high school student from Ohio and officially chosen by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1960.

Topic Today

As of 2019, the federal government does not have any criminal laws concerning display or treatment of the flag; individual states are granted the right to make their own laws concerning the flag. However, since 1942, the Federal Flag Code has provided official guidelines on the proper display and respect of the American flag. The code may be US law, but it does not come with any enforceable penalties. In 1989, Congress passed a law making desecration of an American flag a crime, but that law was struck down by the Supreme Court a year later.

The code includes provisions that state the flag should not be flown during bad weather and should not be flown at night unless it is displayed in proper lighting. On days of national mourning, such as after the death of a former president, flags should be flown at half-mast as a sign of respect. When displayed from a flagpole, the blue field, also called the union, should be at the upper end of the pole. When displayed indoors on a wall, the blue field should be displayed at the top left corner. The flag should never be dipped toward any person and should never touch the ground. When flown with other flags, such as state flags, the American flag must always be flown above the other flags and should never touch those below it.

If weather permits, the flag can be flown any day of the year, but the code suggests it should be displayed on certain nationally celebrated holidays. These include Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, and Flag Day. Flag Day is celebrated on June 14 and was officially established in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson.

Bibliography

“The American Flag.” USA.gov, 2019, www.usa.gov/flag. Accessed 15 Apr. 2019.

Ferry, Joseph. American Flag: The Story of Old Glory. Mason Crest, 2015.

Greenspan, Jesse. “The Mysterious Origins of the American Flag.” History.com, 13 June 2012, www.history.com/news/a-flag-day-history-of-the-stars-and-stripes. Accessed 15 Apr. 2019.

Greenstein, Nicole. “Why the U.S. Flag is Red, White and Blue.” Time, 4 July 2013, swampland.time.com/2013/07/04/why-the-u-s-flag-is-red-white-and-blue/. Accessed 15 Apr. 2019.

“The History of the American Flag.” PBS.org, 2019, www.pbs.org/a-capitol-fourth/history/old-glory/. Accessed 15 Apr. 2019.

Jenkins, Sally. “How the Flag Came to be Called Old Glory.” Smithsonian, October 2013, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-flag-came-to-be-called-old-glory-18396/. Accessed 16 Apr. 2019.

Leepson, Marc. Flag: An American Biography. Thomas Dunne Books, 2005.

“List of Flags During the American Revolutionary War from 1775– 1883.” RevolutionaryWar.us, 2017, revolutionarywar.us/flags/. Accessed 15 Apr. 2019.

Luckey, John R. “The United States Flag: Federal Law Relating to Display and Associated Questions.” Congressional Research Service, 14 Apr. 2008, www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30243.pdf. Accessed 16 Apr. 2019.