Flag of the United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
- "Stars and stripes" redirects here. For other uses of the term, see Stars and Stripes.
Flag ratio: 10:19; nicknames: Stars and Stripes, Old GloryThe flag of the United States consists of 13 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars 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 states and the 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies. The United States flag is commonly called the Stars and Stripes or Old Glory. The name Old Glory was coined by Captain William Driver, a shipmaster of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1831, and was of particularly common use during the era of the 48-star version (1912 to 1959).
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Traditions
Many institutions, and some homeowners, display the flag year-round, while some reserve flag display for civic holidays like Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, Presidents' Day, Flag Day and the Fourth of July. On Memorial Day it is common to place small flags by war memorials and next to the graves of U.S. war dead.
Symbolism
To many U.S. citizens, their flag symbolizes many things. They have seen it as representing all of the freedoms and rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights. Perhaps most of all they see it as a symbol of individual and personal liberty like those put forth in the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
The approved method of destroying old and tattered flags consists of burning them in a simple ceremony. The flag is cut into three pieces: first a horizontal cut is made between the seventh and eighth stripes, then a vertical cut separating the star field from the seven shorter stripes. Then the three pieces are typically placed on a pyre as 'Taps' is played. Burning the flag has also been used as a deliberate act of disrespect, at times to protest actions by the United States government, or sometimes in displays of Anti-Americanism. Some groups concerned by these actions have proposed a Flag Burning Amendment that would give Congress the authority to outlaw burning the flag in disrespect or protest.
Symbolism of the design
When the Second Continental Congress proposed the Flag Resolution on June 14, 1777, there was no particular symbolism attached to the colors or their arrangement on the flag. However, on June 20, 1782, Charles Thomson, the secretary of the Continental Congress, gave a report to the Congress defining the new Great Seal of the United States. A seal must conform to the rules of heraldry, and so meanings were attached to the colors:
- The colours of the pales are those used in the flag of the United States of America. White signifies purity and innocence. Red hardiness and valour and Blue the colour of the Chief signifies vigilance perseverance and justice. [ContCong 22:339]
Originally, both the number of stripes and the number of stars were supposed to represent the number of states. However, this became unwieldy as states were added to the union. During the debate that eventually resulted in the Flag Act of 1818, U.S. Naval Captain Samuel C. Reid suggested that the number of stripes be set at thirteen to represent the original 13 colonies and that only the number of stars be set to the number of states. [USGov 4]
A book about the flag published by the Congress in 1977 gives further symbolism for the flag:
- 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. [USFlag.org]
Design
The design of the flag is specified by United States Code title 4, chapter 1, section 1 [1]. The specification gives the following values:
- Hoist (width) of flag: A = 1.0
- Fly (length) of flag: B = 1.9
- Hoist (width) of Union: C = 0.5385 (7/13)
- Fly (length) of Union: D = 0.76
- E = F = 0.054
- G = H = 0.063
- Diameter of star: K = 0.0616
- Width of stripe: L = 0.0769 (1/13)
Presumably E and F are approximations of 7/130 = 0.0[538461], and G and H are approximations of 0.76/12 = 0.06[3].
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
- Cable No. 70180 Old Glory Red
- Cable No. 70001 White
- Cable No. 70075 Old Glory Blue
The red is generally considered the same as Pantone 193, and the blue, Pantone 281.
The current 50-star flag was designed by Robert Heft in 1958 while living with his grandparents in Ohio. He was 17 years old at the time and did the flag design as a class project. His mother was a seamstress, but forced Heft to do all of the work on his own. 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. According to Heft, his teacher did keep to their agreement and changed his grade to an "A" for the project.
Flag etiquette
Main article: Flag etiquette of the United States
There are certain guidelines for the use and display of the United States flag as outlined in the United States Flag Code of the federal government.
Places where the American flag is displayed continuously
According to Presidential proclamation, Congressional order, and custom, the American flag is displayed continuously at the following locations:
- Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, Baltimore, Maryland, 15-star/15-stripe flag (Presidential Proclamation No. 2795, July 2, 1948).
- Flag House Square, Albemarle and Pratt Streets, Baltimore, Maryland, 15-star/15-stripe flag (Public Law 83-319, approved March 26, 1954).
- United States Marine Corps War Memorial (Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima), Arlington, Virginia (Presidential Proclamation No. 3418, June 12, 1961).
- Lexington, Massachusetts Town Green (Public Law 89-335, approved November 8, 1965).
- The White House, Washington, DC (Presidential Proclamation No.4000, September 4, 1970).
- Fifty U.S. Flags are displayed continuously at the Washington Monument, Washington, DC. (Presidential Proclamation No. 4064, July 6, 1971, effective July 4, 1971).
- By order of Richard Nixon at United States Customs Service Ports of Entry that are continuously open (Presidential Proclamation No.4131, May 5, 1972).
- Grounds of the National Memorial Arch in Valley Forge State Park, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania (Public Law 94-53, approved July 4, 1975).
- Mount Slover limestone quarry, in Colton, California (Act of Congress). First raised July 4, 1917.[2]
- Washington Camp Ground, part of the former Middlebrook encampment, Bridgewater, New Jersey, Thirteen Star Flag, by Act of Congress.
- In addition, the American flag is presumed to be in 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 assumed however that Apollo 11's flag was knocked down by the force of return to lunar orbit.
- By custom, at the home, birthplace and grave of Francis Scott Key, all in Maryland
- By custom, at the Worcester, Massachusetts war memorial
- By custom, at the plaza in Taos, New Mexico, since 1861
- By custom, at the United States Capitol since 1918
- By custom, at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, South Dakota
History
The flag has gone through 26 changes since the new union of 13 states first adopted it. The 48-star version holds the record, 47 years, for the longest time the flag has gone unchanged. The current 50-star version will tie the record if it is still in use on July 4, 2007.
At the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, the most commonly flown flag was the Grand Union Flag. This flag was initially flown by George Washington and is recorded as being first raised by Washington's troops at Prospect Hill on New Year's Day in 1776. This flag formed the basis of the Stars and Stripes, consisting of 13 red and white stripes with the British Union Jack in the canton. The Grand Union Flag is the same as the East India Company flag of the same era, although the East India Company flag could have from 9 to 13 stripes.
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). Since 1937, this design has been used as the flag of the District of Columbia.
On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution which stated: "Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation." Flag Day is now observed on June 14 of each year. Tradition holds that the new flag was first hoisted in June of 1777 by the Continental Army at the Middlebrook encampment.
The Flag Resolution did not specify any particular arrangement for the stars. Initially, a variety of designs were used, including a circular arrangement (below), but gradually a design featuring horizontal rows of stars emerged as the standard.
As further states entered the union, extra stars and stripes were added until this proved to cause too much clutter. It was ultimately decided that there would be a star for each state, but the number of stripes would remain at thirteen to honor the original colonies. It was the 15-star, 15-stripe flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner", now the national anthem.
When the flag design changes, the change always takes place on July 4 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a consequence of the Flag Act of April 4, 1818. July 4, Independence Day in the United States, commemorates the founding of the nation. The most recent change, from forty-nine stars to fifty, occurred in 1960 when Robert G. Heft's 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.
The flag flew in battle for the first time at Cooch's Bridge in Delaware on September 3, 1777 during the American Revolutionary War.
The origin of the U.S. flag 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's own records. The British historian Sir Charles Fawcett has suggested that the design of the flag may have been derived from the flag and jack of the British East India Company. Comparisons between the 2 flags support Fawcett's suggestion. Another popular theory is that the flag was designed by Francis Hopkinson. He reportedly originally wanted the stars arranged in four bands, one vertical, one horizontal, and two diagonal. By the same reports, this arrangement was rejected due to similarity to the British flag.
State stars and design duration
In the following table, the star patterns for each flag are merely the usual patterns, with the exception of the 48-, 49-, and 50-star flags, as there was no official arrangement of the stars until the proclamation of the 48-star flag by President William Howard Taft in 1912. (For alternate versions, see this page at Flags of the World.)
Symmetry
- Symmetry with respect to horizontal axis: 50, 49, 48, 46, 44, 38, 37, 36, 34, 33, 32, 30, 28, 26, 24, 20, 15, 13 (standard)
- Symmetry with respect to vertical axis: 51, 50, 48, 46, 45, 44, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 21, 20, 15, 13 (standard and Betsy Ross)
- Both, hence also point symmetry: 50, 48, 46, 44, 37, 36, 34, 33, 32, 45, 28, 26, 24, 20, 15, 13 (standard)
- No symmetry: 43
- Chessboard pattern: 51, 50, 49, 45, 15, 13 (standard)
- Rectangle of stars: 48, 35, 30, 28, 24, 20
Future of the flag
The United States Army's Institute of Heraldry has plans for flags with up to 56 stars using a similar staggered star arrangement in case additional states accede.
There are ongoing statehood movements in Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and New York City. Other insular areas such as the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa may eventually become states as well.
See also
- Robert G. Heft, designer of the current flag.
- Flags of the U.S. states
- Flags of the United States armed forces
- Flags of the Confederate States of America
- Flag desecration in the United States
- United States Army Colors
References
- [ContCong]
- Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, ed. Worthington C. Ford et al. (Washington, D.C., 1904-37).
- [USFlag.org]
- "What do the colors of the Flag mean?". USFlag.org: A website dedicated to the Flag of the United States of America. URL accessed on June 14, 2005.
- [USGov]
- U.S. Government (1861). Our Flag, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC. S. Doc 105-013
- Available as a 1.78 MB PDF at GPO Access
External links
- United States at Flags of the World
- U.S. Flag Etiquette
- The United States Flag Page
- Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Facts About the United States Flag
- The Flag Code--U.S. Code Home: Title 4, Flag and Seal, Seat of Government, and the States--Chapter 1, The Flag
- Provides details about the design of the flag, treatment of the flag, the pledge of allegiance, etc.
- Executive Order No. 10798, with specifications and regulations for the current flag
- The Civil Flag: forgotten flag, or flag of fiction?
- The Significance of the "Yellow Fringed Flag"
- Ben's Guide (3-5): Symbols of U.S. Government - Flag of the United States
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