U.S. Flag Day Tomorrow. Here's a Quiz on It-- Part 2

3.  Which of the following features of the actual Star-Spangled Banner flag is NOT true:

a)  It had 15 stars on it;

b)  It had 15 stripes on it;

c)  The stars were in a circle;

d)  It's now preserved at the Smithsonian Institution.

****************************

4.  The "Star-Spangled Banner" was written during which war?

a)  French and Indian War;

b)  American Revolution;

c)  War of 1812;

d)  Civil War.

****************************

There is no contemporary account that says Betsy Ross actually made the first  U.S. flag.   What di we know for a fact about her role?

a)  She was a friend of Martha Washington;

b)  In 1870, Betsy Ross's daughter, Rachel Fletcher, publicized and testified as to Betsy's role;

c)  She designed the yellow "Don't Tread On Me" flag;

d)  She was elected to Congress

****************************

Answers below

3.  c

4.  c

5.  b

--CootFlag

Today Is Flag Day-- Part 3: That "Star-Spangled Banner"

The flag made by Betsy Ross depicted 13 red and white horizontal stripes in alternating colors, and a blue field with 13 stars arranged in a circle.  Other flags were created at the time with stars in a staggered pattern other than her circle.

The original 13 star flag remained the official flag of the United States until the addition of two more states, Vermont and Kentucky.  A fifteen star flag made its appearance in 1785, but this flag not only had 15 stars, but also the addition of two more stripes.  This new flag was the one that flew at Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, the "Star-Spangled Banner."

Francis Scott Key, a lawyer and amateur poet was aboard a British ship (where he had gone to negotiate the release of a friend) when the fort was bombarded.  This was the inspiration to pen the poem "The Star-Spangled Banner."

It started as a poem, but music was added and it has been the National Anthem ever since, though not officially for many years.   Currently the Fort McHenry flag is at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.

--CootFlag

Tomorrow Is Flag Day-- Part 2: 13 Stripes and 13 Stars

The flag went from having 13 stars, representing the 13 colonies  to the 50 stars for the states we have today.  Most of the states are located between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, but today it also stretches across the Pacific to Hawaii and northward to Alaska.

Hawaii is the 50th and last state to join the Union.  It was a state when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941.  back then, the U.S. flag had 48 stars as Alaska was also not a state.

The Flag Resolution passed by the Second Continental Congress on June 4, 1777, said:  "Resolved, that the flag of the 13 United States be 13 stripes alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."

Legend has it that Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress, designed and sewed the first flag.  Some sources say she was a friend of the Washington family.

--RedWhiteBlueDaCoot

"Star-Spangled Banner" Lore

From the June 1-7, 2014, American Profile Magazine "Old Glory" by Vicki Cox.

***  According to usflag.org., few historians really believe that Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross made the first U.S. flag.

***  America's current 50-star flag was designed in Lancaster, Ohio, in 1958 by 17-year-old Robert Heft for a high school class project.

***  Prior to a 1912 Executive Order, flag makers were free to shake up the arrangement of the stars and vary the proportions of the stripes.

--Cooter