48 Fun Facts About The American Flag

How many stripes has the U.S. flag had since the Flag Act of 1818?

The stripes stand for the thirteen colonies, while the stars (50 since 1960) stand for the states.

On what date does the United States observe Flag Day?

It marks the day in 1777 when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes; the U.S. Army also celebrates its birthday on June 14.

Which state's admission prompted the 50-star flag design adopted in 1960?

Hawaii became the 50th state on August 21, 1959, prompting the 50-star flag that became official in 1960; Alaska's admission that January had produced a short-lived 49-star flag first.

How many horizontal rows of stars does the 50-star U.S. flag have?

The 50-star flag arranges its stars in nine horizontal rows that alternate six and five stars, producing eleven staggered columns.

How many times has the flag's design been officially modified since 1777?

The design has changed 26 times, making the 50-star flag the 27th official version; in 2007 it became the longest-used of them all.

Which president ordered the 50-star flag by executive order in 1959?

Executive Order 10834 was signed on August 21, 1959, and the flag became official the following July 4.

What filled the canton of the Continental Colours flag of 1775–77?

It kept the Union Jack alongside 13 red-and-white stripes, and closely resembled the flag of the East India Company.

Who first flew the Continental Union Flag aboard the ship Alfred on December 3, 1775?

John Paul Jones, then a Continental Navy lieutenant on Esek Hopkins' flagship Alfred at Philadelphia, later claimed he was the first to hoist the Grand Union flag, on December 3, 1775.

What did the 1777 Flag Resolution say the stars represented?

The resolution of June 14, 1777 called for 'thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation', but said nothing about arrangement, so makers used circles, rows and even one big star.

Who was the only person to claim in his lifetime that he designed the U.S. flag?

Francis Hopkinson, a New Jersey signer of the Declaration, billed Congress in 1780 for designing the flag and other government devices; Congress never paid him.

What payment did the flag's self-proclaimed designer first request from Congress in 1780?

His later bills asked for cash instead, and Congress declined on the grounds that he already drew a salary as a member.

Who first publicly told the story that Betsy Ross sewed the first flag, and when?

Her grandson William Canby first told the story in an 1870 paper to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, nearly a century after the supposed visit, and admitted he had no documentary proof.

Per Ross family lore, what did Betsy Ross persuade Washington to change about the stars?

She is said to have shown that five-pointed stars were faster to cut, though no archival evidence supports the story.

What was Betsy Ross's trade?

Betsy Ross was an upholsterer; her Philadelphia shop did make flags for the Pennsylvania Navy, and a May 1777 State Navy Board record orders payment for her 'ship's colours'.

Which fort is traditionally credited with flying the first Stars and Stripes in battle?

Fort Stanwix, besieged by St. Leger's force in August 1777, is traditionally credited with the first Stars and Stripes in battle; its improvised flag was cut from shirts and a scarlet garment, and may have been a Grand Union design.

Which two states' admission raised the count to 15 stars and 15 stripes in 1795?

Vermont (1791) and Kentucky (1792) brought the count to fifteen stars and fifteen stripes from May 1, 1795; it is the only official U.S. flag that has not had thirteen stripes.

The Flag Act of 1818 restored 13 stripes and set new stars to be added on which date?

The 1818 act, passed at the suggestion of naval captain Samuel C. Reid, restored thirteen stripes and ordered each new star added on the July 4 following a state's admission.

Which star counts never appeared on an official flag, since no Flag Act passed 1794–1818?

The 1818 act jumped straight to twenty stars, so Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana and Indiana never got a flag of their own.

The 1912 executive order for the 48-star flag was the first to specify what?

President Taft's Executive Order 1556 of 1912 was the first to set an official arrangement of the stars, six rows of eight with one point up; earlier rectangular and circular patterns had been left to makers.

On July 4, 2007, the 50-star flag surpassed which earlier version as the longest-used?

The 48-star flag served 47 years, from 1912 through both world wars until Alaska's 49th star in 1959.

Which Ohio teenager is popularly credited with designing the 50-star flag as a school project?

Robert G. Heft of Lancaster, Ohio, said he sewed a 50-star flag for a 1958 high-school project; no official record supports the story, and later investigation found its key details unverifiable.

What nickname did the Stars and Stripes acquire in Canton, China, after arriving in 1784?

The name stuck: American ginseng is known in Chinese as 'flower flag' ginseng, and Citibank trades in China as 'Flower Flag Bank'.

Which 1861 event turned the banner into a popular national symbol, sparking 'Flagmania'?

Before the Civil War, the flag was rarely seen outside forts, government buildings and ships.

Who sewed the 15-star garrison flag that flew over Fort McHenry in 1814?

Mary Pickersgill, a Baltimore flag maker, was paid $405.90 in 1813 for the garrison flag; she was helped by her daughter, two nieces and a 13-year-old indentured servant, Grace Wisher.

What were the original dimensions of the Fort McHenry garrison flag?

The garrison flag measured 30 by 42 feet; Major Armistead wanted one so large the British could not miss it, and it weighed about 50 pounds with stars about two feet across.

How many stars remain on the surviving Star-Spangled Banner flag?

Fourteen of the fifteen stars remain: one star was cut out and given away as a gift, and its whereabouts are unknown; about eight feet of the fly end were also snipped for souvenirs.

Who wrote the poem 'Defence of Fort M'Henry' after watching the 1814 bombardment?

Francis Scott Key, a Washington lawyer detained with the British fleet while negotiating Dr. William Beanes's release, wrote the poem; it was set to John Stafford Smith's 'The Anacreontic Song'.

In what year did Congress make 'The Star-Spangled Banner' the official national anthem?

Congress made it the national anthem in 1931, when Herbert Hoover signed the joint resolution on March 3; the Navy had used it officially since 1889.

Which sea captain coined the nickname 'Old Glory' for his own flag?

Captain William Driver of Salem named his flag 'Old Glory'; he later hid it inside a coverlet in Nashville so Confederates could not seize it, and produced it when Union troops took the city in 1862.

What small symbol did Old Glory's owner sew into the flag's corner in 1860?

A small white anchor was sewn into the canton's corner to mark Driver's seafaring career; the family also added ten stars, bringing the flag to 34, during the same repair.

What large numeral appears in the canton of the Bennington flag?

The Bennington flag bears a large '76' in its canton beneath an arc of seven-pointed stars; the Bennington Museum dates its fabric to the 19th century, not the Revolution.

Which Wisconsin schoolteacher held the first recognized formal Flag Day observance in 1885?

He taught at Stony Hill School in Waubeka, then spent decades campaigning for the holiday, including a 1894 Chicago celebration with 300,000 children.

Which president issued the 1916 proclamation designating June 14 as Flag Day?

Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day on May 30, 1916; Congress did not establish National Flag Day by law until August 3, 1949, without making it a federal holiday.

Which was the first state to make Flag Day a state holiday, in 1937?

Pennsylvania made Flag Day a state holiday in 1937, the observance having begun in the town of Rennerdale; New York instead marks a state Flag Day on the second Sunday in June.

Who wrote the 1892 version of the Pledge of Allegiance for a magazine promotion?

Francis Bellamy, a staff member at The Youth's Companion, wrote the Pledge for the magazine's Columbus Day school program; schoolchildren across the country first recited it on October 21, 1892.

In what year were the words 'under God' added to the Pledge of Allegiance?

Eisenhower signed the change on Flag Day, June 14, 1954; the Knights of Columbus had been adding 'under God' at their meetings since 1951.

Why did Congress replace the straight-arm Pledge salute with the hand over the heart in WWII?

Bellamy created his salute in 1892; unlike the German version, it ended with the palm turned up.

According to the Flag Code, what is the preferred way to dispose of a flag too tattered to serve?

The Flag Code says a worn flag should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning; the American Legion runs retirement ceremonies, often on Flag Day, and synthetic flags are often recycled instead because of the fumes.

At which Olympics did the U.S. flag bearer famously refuse to dip the flag to a king?

At the 1908 London Games shot-putter Ralph Rose carried the flag past Edward VII without dipping it; teammate Martin Sheridan's line 'this flag dips to no earthly king' surfaced only decades later.

What does flying the U.S. flag upside down originally signal?

The Flag Code allows the union down only 'as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger'; Rage Against the Machine hung two inverted flags from their amps on Saturday Night Live in 1996 and were ejected.

Which 1943 Supreme Court case held that schoolchildren cannot be compelled to salute the flag?

West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) held that compelling schoolchildren to salute the flag violates the First Amendment, overruling Minersville v. Gobitis from only three years earlier.

What is the official width-to-height ratio of a government-specification U.S. flag?

Most flags sold to the public use 3x5 or 4x6 proportions instead; 1.9-ratio flags are called 'G-spec'.

Who explained in 1782 that the white meant purity, red valor and blue vigilance?

Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, gave those meanings in his 1782 report on the Great Seal; the 1777 flag resolution assigned the colors no meaning at all.

Which federal holiday calls for the flag to fly at half-staff only until noon?

On Memorial Day the flag flies at half-staff only until noon, then is raised to the peak; Eisenhower's 1954 proclamation standardized half-staff periods, with a president's death bringing 30 days.

Who took the Pulitzer-winning 1945 photograph of Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi?

Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press shot the image on February 23, 1945; it captured the second, larger flag raised that day on Iwo Jima and became the model for the Marine Corps War Memorial.

How many U.S. flag assemblies were planted on the Moon during the Apollo program?

Six flags were planted, one on each landing mission from Apollo 11 to Apollo 17 (Apollo 13 never landed); the kit was designed by NASA's Jack Kinzler, and the Apollo 11 flag was toppled by the ascent engine's exhaust.

In Texas v. Johnson (1989), what did the Supreme Court rule about burning the U.S. flag?

The 5–4 ruling voided desecration laws in 48 states; Congress responded with the Flag Protection Act, struck down in turn in U.S. v. Eichman.

Gregory Lee Johnson burned a flag outside which 1984 event, leading to the landmark case?

Johnson burned the flag during a protest at the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas; Texas fined him $2,000 and sentenced him to a year in jail before the Supreme Court overturned the conviction.