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---------------------- 2708 - AMERICAN FLAG - a history of the stars and stripes?
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- Several years ago the U.S. Senate narrowly missed passing a constitutional amendment giving Congress the power to ban "physical desecration" of the flag. The vote was 66-34, one short of the required two-thirds majority. The U.S. House of Representatives gave its approval last year. If the Senate had done the same, and 38 states ratified it, this law could have been made part of the U.S. Constitution.
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- The flag that existed before the Stars and Stripes was the "Continental Colors." It had 13 red and white stripes representing the 13 colonies and a British Union Jack in the corner.
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- George Washington raised this flag as the banner of the Continental Army on January 1, 1776. Other early flags depicted a pine tree or a snake. There were several versions of the "Gadsden flag," which was yellow with a rattlesnake coiled over the words "Don't Tread on Me!"
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- Many Americans believe a Philadelphia seamstress named Betsy Ross designed and sewed the first Stars and Stripes. The legend began when her grandson, William Canby, spoke on the origin of the flag to the Pennsylvania Historical Society in 1870. Canby said his grandmother had told him that she fashioned the flag in June 1776 at the request of George Washington.
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- Still, despite the fact that Betsy Ross was a good businesswoman who kept careful records, Canby admitted he could find no documents to back up the story. Canby said Washington approached Ross because he was part of a congressional committee in charge of creating a new flag. But no one has found any evidence that the committee existed, that Washington visited Ross's shop, or that the two even knew each other. Betsy Ross did make flags, but for now, the legend of her sewing the first-ever Stars and Stripes remains a legend.
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- On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, adopted the following resolution, without comment or debate: “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“.
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- Congress said nothing about the stars' arrangement, so different versions of the Stars and Stripes appeared during the following years, with different star patterns. These included the "Betsy Ross flag," with the stars in a circle.
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- Many historians now believe the Stars and Stripes may have been the work of Francis Hopkinson, a congressman, artist, and signer of the Declaration of Independence. In 1780, Hopkinson wrote a letter to the government about designs he had made for official symbols, including the "Flag of the United States of America." He noted that he hadn't been paid and asked for a quarter cask of wine as compensation. That seems fair to me.
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- No official explanation of the color scheme has ever been established. Yet in 1782, Charles Thomson, the congressional secretary in charge of choosing a great seal for the United States, did explain the meaning of the seal's red, white, and blue. He said, "White signifies purity and innocence, Red hardiness and valor, and Blue . . . signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice."
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- On the other hand, the flag may be red, white, and blue simply because those are the colors of the British flag.
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- April 16, 2020 2708
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--------------------- Thursday, April 16, 2020 -------------------------
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