Flag Day
June 14
The Stars and Stripes
Hats off!
Along the street there comes A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, A
flash of color beneath the sky: Hats off!
The flag is passing by!
from The Flag Goes By by Henry Holcomb Bennett
The American flag has fifty stars, one for each state in the Union. All
fifty states honor the flag on Flag Day. But Flag Day is a holiday in
only one state—Pennsylvania.
It was in Pennsylvania, in the city of Philadelphia, that the
Continental Congress adopted the first official American flag. The date
was June 14, 1777. At that time, the thirteen American colonies were
fighting for their liberty. They wanted to be free from Great Britain.
As a symbol of their united effort, and their independence, they wanted
to have one flag.
When the Revolutionary War started in 1776, Americans fought under many
different flags. One flag had a pine tree on it and the words \”An
Appeal to Heaven.” Another had a rattlesnake and the words \”Don’t Tread
on Me.” Others had \”Liberty or Death” or \”Conquer or Die.”
The new flag had thirteen stripes—seven red and six white—and
thirteen white stars on a field of blue. No one knows who designed this
flag or made the first one.
Children dressed in folk costumes proudly carry the Stars and Stripes
in the Flag Day parade held in Chicago.
According to one story, the first flag was made by Betsy Ross. It is
true that Betsy Ross did sew flags during the Revolutionary War. And she
lived in Philadelphia. Her house there is now a national shrine. But
there is no proof that she made the first official American flag.
There is no record of why red, white, and blue were chosen as the colors
for the flag. But it was said later that the red stands for hardiness
and courage, the white for purity and innocence, and the blue for
vigilance, perseverance, and justice. The stripes stand for the thirteen
original colonies. And there is one star for each state.
