June 14 Is Flag Day- Honor Old Glory Tomorrow

On June 14, 1777, the American Continental Congress passed the act establishing an official flag for the new nation. The resolution stated : “Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." On August 3, 1949, President Harry S. Truman officially declared June 14 as Flag Day. ~~~~~ The history of the American flag is as fascinating as that of the American Republic itself. It has survived battles, inspired songs and evolved in response to the growth of the country it represents. It is undoubtedly the most universally recognized flag in the world. The origin of the first American flag is unknown. Some historians, and most Americans, believe it was designed and sewn by Philadelphia Quaker-born seamstress Betsy Ross. Betsy would often tell her children, grandchildren, relatives and friends of the fateful day when three members of a secret committee from the Continental Congress came to call upon her. Those representatives -- George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross -- asked her to sew the first flag. This meeting occurred in her home some time late in May 1776. George Washington was then the head of the Continental Army. Robert Morris, an owner of vast amounts of land, was perhaps the wealthiest citizen in the Colonies. Colonel George Ross was a respected Philadelphian and also the uncle of her late husband, John Ross. Naturally, Betsy Ross already knew George Ross as she had married his nephew. Furthermore Betsy was also acquainted with the great General Washington. Not only did they both worship at Christ Church in Philadelphia, but Betsy's pew was next to George and Martha Washington's pew. Her daughter recalled : "That she was previously well acquainted with Washington, and that he had often been in her house on friendly visits, as well as on business. That she had embroidered ruffles for his shirt bosoms and cuffs, and that it was partly owing to his friendship for her that she was chosen to make the flag." In June 1776, brave Betsy was a widow struggling to run her own upholstery business. Upholsterers n colonial America not only worked on furniture but did all sorts of sewing work, which for some included making flags. According to Betsy, General Washington showed her a rough design of the flag that included a six-pointed star. Betsy, very accomplished with scissors, demonstrated how to cut a five-pointed star in a single snip. Impressed, the committee entrusted Betsy with making our first flag, forever known as "the Betsy Ross Flag," described in the June 14, 1777, Continental Congress resolution introduced by John Adams. ~~~~~ The name Old Glory was first given to a large, 10-by-17-foot flag by its owner, William Driver, a sea captain from Massachusetts, inspiring the common nickname for all American flags. Driver’s flag is said to have survived multiple attempts to deface it during the Civil War. Driver was able to fly the flag over the Tennessee Statehouse once the war ended. The Driver flag is displayed at the National Museum of American History, and was last displayed in Tennessee by permission of the Smithsonian at an exhibition in 2006. Between 1777 and 1960, Congress passed several acts that changed the shape, design and arrangement of the flag and allowed stars and stripes to be added to reflect the admission of each new state. Today the flag consists of 13 horizontal stripes, seven red alternating with six white. The stripes represent the original 13 colonies and the stars represent the 50 states of the Union. The colors of the flag are symbolic as well -- red symbolizes hardiness and valor, white symbolizes purity and innocence, and blue represents vigilance, perseverance and justice. The enormous 1814 garrison flag that survived the 25-hour shelling of Fort McHenry in Baltimore by British troops and inspired Francis Scott Key to compose the poem "The Spangled Banner" has survived and is being preserved by the National Museum of American History. The "Star Spangled Banner" flag had become soiled and weakened over time and was removed from the museum in December 1998, and its preservation project continues today. The flag is now stored at a 10-degree angle in a special low-oxygen, filtered light chamber and is periodically examined at a microscopic level to detect signs of decay or damage within its individual fibers. ~~~~~ During a British bombardment of Baltimore's Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, amateur poet Francis Scott Key and several other Americans were captured and held on a British ship during the night bombardment. Key was so inspired by the sight of the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry at dawn that he wrote the Spangled Banner on September 14, 1814. It officially became the Ametican national anthem in 1931. In 1892, the flag inspired James B. Upham and Francis Bellamy to write "Allegiance," which became the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag, first published in a magazine called The Youth's Companion. ~~~~~ While the American flag is normally flown from sunrise to sunset, there are several locations where the flag is flown 24 hours a day, either by presidential proclamation or by law : Fort McHenry, National Monument and Historic Shrine, Baltimore, Maryland / Flag House Square, Baltimore, Maryland / United States Marine Corps Memorial (Iwo Jima), Arlington, Virginia / the Green of the Town of Lexington, Massachusetts / The White House, Washington, DC / United States customs ports of entry / Grounds of the National Memorial Arch in Valley Forge State Park, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. ~~~~~ The American flag has been flown at significant foreign locations. In 1909, Robert Peary placed an American flag, sewn by his wife, at the North Pole. He also left pieces of another flag along the way. It is the only time a person has been honored for cutting the flag. In 1963, Barry Bishop placed the American flag on top of Mount Everest. In July 1969, the American flag was "flown" in space when Neil Armstrong placed it on the moon. Flags were placed on the lunar surface on each of the six manned landings during the Apollo program. The first time the American flag was flown overseas on a foreign fort was in Libya, over Fort Derne, on the shores of Tripoli in 1805. ~~~~~ Dear readers, wherever Americans gather -- to celebrate their independence, to honor their soldiers and war dead, to relax at a sports event, to put the patriotic finish on their porch or front yard, to say 'I'm proud to be American,' you will find the American flag -- big flags waving high, little flag pins on their shirts, flag motifs on their teeshirts, flags fluttering from the brims of their hats. Sometimes, citizens of other countries think Americans are too flag-crazy. The truth is that Americans honor and love their flag because it has been with them from before the Revolution through the Civil War and two World Wars. It has given them courage at Lexington and Bunker Hill, on Pacific atolls and in New York City on that fateful day. It can bring smiles to their faces and tears to their eyes. It is theirs and theirs alone -- to defend and preserve. The American Flag. Wave it proudly tomorrow.