Let Flag Day bring us closer together
As spring clears winter’s harsher climate and the nation’s birthday draws near, flags again venture outside, adorning more homes and businesses. For many, emotions swell. Flags symbolize so much — history, identity, sacrifice, pride and yes — love.
June 14 is Flag Day.
While the American flag’s first design was adopted by Congress in 1777, it took another century before the first Flag Day was observed on June 14, 1877. Seamstress Betsy Ross’s design — the circle of 13 white stars in the canton (the upper left corner) against a blue background, with a field of 13 stripes alternating red and white — imitated a Grand Union Army battle flag, which in turn closely resembled the British East India Company standard. Anyway, it wasn’t our first.
The first official U.S. flag had a scattered, rather than Ross’s circular, pattern of stars, and was flown from Fort Stanwix (now Rome, N.Y.) on Aug. 3, 1777. As states were born, the original 13 stars proliferated, each added on the following Fourth.
A few more flag facts:
- Today’s 50-star design is our 27th flag, which we’ve had since 1960, after Hawaii achieved statehood.
- The oldest flags were of wood, metal or stone, dating back two millennia.
- The earliest textile flags came — like so much else — from ancient Rome around the third century C.E.
- Flags are also used for long-distance communication, such as by navies at sea.
- Flag hoists (the edge nearest the pole) also have a connection to written communication. Among cultures who write from left to right, flags are hoisted on the left. Where languages are written right to left (e.g., Hebrew, Arabic, Urdu, Farsi), flags are generally hoisted from the right.
- Red, often ascribed to bravery and strength, is the most popular color, appearing on nearly 75 percent of flags worldwide. White (peace and honesty) is a close second; blue (truth and justice) appears on about half of national flags. Some nations use green (hope and love) to symbolize religious beliefs; color meanings vary.
- The American flag has been known by other names: The Stars and Stripes; Red, White and Blue; Old Glory; and The Star-Spangled Banner.
By any name, flags are more than mere cloth. National flags represent common history, and common ideals held sacred. To celebrate Flag Day, may we be inspired to set aside differences, and focus on that which unites us.
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Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.