Thursday, June 20, 2024

Five Things You Might Not Know About the U.S. Flag (in Honor of Flag Day)-- Part 4: Star-Spangled Banner Flag Had 15 Stripes

The flag immortalized by "The Star-Spangles Banner" had 15 stripes-- not 13!

In 1791, Vermont was admitted to the Union and Kentucky joined in 1792.  Congress passed the second Flag Act on January 13, 1794, authorizing a new national flag with 15 stars and stripes.

During the War of 1812, Mary Pickersgill, her daughter, two nieces and an indentured black girl made a giant flag for Baltimore's Fort McHenry.

On September 14, 1814, after withstanding a heavy British bombardment, the fort raised the giant flag.  This triumph inspired Francis Scott Key to write a poem which has since become known as our National Anthem.

--Cooter


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