History of the American Flag - Brought to you by Drexel University Online

[Music] Old Glory Stars and Stripes the star-spangled banner from its inception the American flag has been an important part of our nation's history survived in over 200 years the flag has evolved physically and symbolically in times of crisis and achievement the American flag is a symbol known worldwide it has been an inspiration for holidays songs poems books artwork and so much more it's been used to show nationalism rebellion and everything in between the flag is so important that its history tells the story of America itself it symbolizes our freedom our dignity and the true meaning of being an American it's been with us through our war times our sad times but also times of great joy and triumph hello I'm Terry Ruggles our flag went through many changes before it became the flag that we all know and love today actually it took a very long time from June 14th of 1777 until July 4th of 1960 that flag has been shrouded in legend and mystery for many years did Betsy Ross truly design our first flag - the colors really stand for something significant well explore these and other myths join me as we recount the history of our American flag you [Music] when we think of the American Revolution we think of it in its final form independence from Britain in fact it was a work in progress it evolved from merely a protest into a full-blown revolution it began as an attempt to redress grievances in fact it was an attempt to gain seats in parliament so that for the first time the colonists would be voting on laws that directly affected them and the flag and its development reflected the various stages of that revolution let's take a look at some of the components that make up our current United States flag we have what's known as the Canton or Bluefield the Stars and of course the stripes so where did these design elements come from the first use of alternating stripes of red and white to symbolize colonial unity on a flag was that of the Sons of Liberty you know the original Tea Party members the guys who threw the chests of tea into Boston Harbor the Sons of Liberty began protesting British governance of the colonies following the Stamp Act of 1765 they came up with a flag that looks similar to this only with less stripes the pattern however was the same and it could be displayed either horizontally or vertically this may have been the pattern that contributed to these stripes and our flag today in 1775 at the beginning of the American Revolution independence from the British Empire had not yet been declared the Continental Congress was meeting in Philadelphia when a militia colonel from Virginia came forward in his uniform and volunteered to take command of the troops outside Boston overlooking Boston Heights that Colonel was George Washington and when he left Philadelphia he took with him two flags the grand Union or the Continental as it was called was the first flag under which Continental soldiers fought it uses the alternating red and white stripe pattern similar to the Sons of Liberty flag only there are 13 stripes signifying the 13 colonies however you'll notice that instead of stars on a blue field we have the keys colors also known as the Union Jack this flag has a very significant meaning it meant that we were fighting as 13 United colonies but still loyal under British rule because remember at this point that colonies had not yet declared independence many people believe that the colors red white and blue were chosen because each had a specific meaning those meanings that have come down to us were ascribed years later it is my personal belief that red white and blue were chosen simply because they were the Kings colors the established flag of each colony that flew over every colonial capital the other flag that Washington took with him is known as the Washington's headquarters flag look familiar well as you can see the entire field is blue there are 13 stars arranged in a pattern known as the 3 2 3 2 3 pattern 5 rows of alternating stars of 3 stars two stars three stars two stars three stars however you'll also notice that there are six pointed stars a slight difference from the five-pointed stars on the current flag this would be the first use of the star pattern as an American flag and today we can see a copy of this flag hanging in front of Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge a year later on July 4th 1776 Congress declared its independence from Great Britain and from that moment on we were fighting for our independence yet the Continental Congress still did not design a new American flag that flag came about on June 14th of 1777 that's when Congress passed the first of three major flag acts the first act stated that the flag of the United States shall consist of 13 alternating stripes of red on white with 13 stars on a blue field forming a new constellation but the flag Act didn't specify whether those stripes were to be vertical or horizontal where was the blue field to be placed what was the star pattern to be used and how many points should each star have who designed the flag in 1776 you couldn't go into a store and buy a flag off a rack back then flags were made in one of two ways since most Flags had a naval use you could go to a ship's chandlery that's a store that outfitted ships and the Chandler would contract with the sail maker or in many cases and upholsterer to make the flag and upholstery back in colonial times had some different functions than we typically think of today because besides working on furniture they also made flags and other military equipment this is where the legend of Betsy Ross comes into play we know that Betsy Ross was an upholsterer we know she made flags for the Pennsylvania Navy and then made flags for the new American Republic what we don't know is whether or not she designed the first American flag we don't know whether she manufactured it all of this is surrounded in mystery and remained so to this day in 1870 Betsy Ross's grandson William Canby was addressing the Historical Society of Philadelphia and he said that his grandmother told him that she met with George Washington and others in that she designed the flag but did she design it or was it Francis Hopkinson Francis Hopkinson was a signer of the declaration of independence from the state of New Jersey the only direct evidence that we have as to who designed the American flag was the bill that Hopkinson submitted to Congress in it he asked for a quarter cast of public wine Congress refused to pay the bill and stated in essence that since he was not the only person involved in the design of the flag it would be unfair to just pay him so to this day that bill remains unpaid regardless of these facts the legend lives on and the first flag of the Revolutionary period is referred to as the Betsy Ross flag the pattern of stars on a blue field was known by three names the Betsy Ross pattern the Philadelphia pattern or the single wreath pattern the rule field on the flag also goes by three names the field the union or the Canton during this period and up until 1912 Congress did not set the specifics of where the field would be or what the star pattern should look like or how many points the stars would have and so stars can be arranged in any manner that a flag maker would choose when Congress put together the components of the flag they used the 13 alternating stripes of red and white as portrayed in the Sons of Liberty flag they also blended with that Washington's headquarters flag the blue field in which there were 13 stars in fact many people believe that the alternating pattern of 3 2 3 2 3 which is on Washington's flag was the flag pattern that Francis Hopkinson submitted had as his design but again since there is no description of his flag there was no picture of his flag there was no sketch of his flag you just do not this pattern is known as the Cowpens pattern another well-known flag during this time was the eastern flag interesting design right but remember Congress did not specify where all the elements should be placed after the Revolutionary War ended our country wrote a new constitution we elected George Washington president and in 1792 we brought in two new states Vermont and Kentucky and this brings up the question what do we do now with the flag because the original flag Act called for 13 stripes and 13 stars to represent the 13 colonies what to do to signify the adding of two new states to the Union at this time Congress passed the second flag act and it stated that from now on we would add one stripe and one star for each new state the best-known of the 15 stars and stripes flag is the flag called the star-spangled banner it is the flag that flew over Fort McHenry and inspired Francis Scott Key to write our national anthem after the war of 1812 we were adding more states again and as we incorporated more stars and stripes into the design our flag was starting to look well a little funny so in 1812 Congress passed the third of the 3 major flag acts it stated that the design was to go back to the original configuration of 13 alternating stripes of red on white representing 13 original colonies but that we would add one star for each new state however once again it did not specify what pattern the Stars should be arranged in or the amount of points that each star was to have so we had many variations of a flag design during that time finally in 1912 President Taft established the pattern of stars that we know today in President tatts 1912 edict he finally established the star pattern to be used on American flags he required three things first all stars now had to be five-pointed could no longer use four six eight pointed stars secondly the stars had to be in horizontal rows and third no longer was it permissible to have the top star point moved it had to be straight up and down our flag is an inspiring symbol that unites us all as American citizens the unique history of the American flag follows our unique history as a country and reminds us of the triumphant beginning of the United States the thirteen stripes a symbol of the first thirteen colonies the star is a symbol of our country's 50 United States and as our country grew and developed so did our flag it has followed the fate of our nation itself and in the future our flag could change again today our flag remains a vibrant symbol of American principles of democracy and justice and freedom and of course the everlasting memory of those who sacrifice their lives defending intrinsic principles of the United States of America over 200 years ago the Second Continental Congress officially made the Stars and Stripes the symbol of America going so far as to declare that the thirteen stars gracing the original flag represented a new constellation with the ideal that America embodied a bright new hope and light for mankind today our plight continues to carry the inspirational and fundamental convictions of our great nation and will continue to do so for many years to come

Channel: Drexel University Online

Views: 46,824

Keywords: Drexel University Online, US Flag, U.S. Flag, History of the Flag, History of the American Flag, Education Resources

Id: aBfi2AGdU9U

Length: 13min 30sec (810 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 18 2012