Posted on June 14, 2021
This is an update of my post published on June 14, 2010:
On this date in 1777, the Continental Congress passed a resolution establishing the new country's flag as 13 red-and-white stripes and 13 white stars on a blue field. Each star and stripe represented one state.
This resolution didn't design a flag out of thin air, but rather confirmed as official one particular flag that was already in use.
I would say “Cue Betsy Ross,” referring to a popular legend that Betsy Ross designed and sewed the first U.S. flag, but apparently there isn't a lot of evidence that the legend is true. However, as an upholsterer, she definitely did sew many American flags (as did other seamstresses).
There is good evidence that Betsy Ross was the one who suggested a 5-pointed star rather than an earlier 6-pointed version.
Did you know...?
I'm sure you know that the stars of the U.S. flag haven't always been arranged in horizontal stripes. You've definitely seen flags with the stars arranged in a circle (see above). But - did you know that one version of a U.S. flag had the 5-pointed stars arranged in a "Great" 5-pointed star?
In 1795, there were 15 states in the new country, so there were 15 stars and 15 stripes on the flag. However, in 1818, when 5 more states and therefore 5 more stars were added, the stripes were reduced again to 13. (Thank goodness! What would the U.S. flag look like with 50 stripes?)
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| This flag is the one that inspired the U.S. national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." It has 15 stripes. |
The largest U.S. flag is called the “Superflag.” It is 505 feet long and 225 feet wide. It weighs 3,000 pounds, and it takes 500 people to unfurl! Each star is 17 feet high. Pictured here on Hoover Dam, the flag is owned by Thomas "Ski" Demski.
By the way, there are a lot of claims on the internet about this or that or this other flag being the largest in the world. Apparently the current official "largest flag," as acknowledged in the Guinness Book of World Records, was rolled out on the ground somewhere in Romania. It covered 850,000 square feet (79,000 square meters) - but I'm not impressed. Is it really a "flag" if it can't fly???
One of the claims of the world's largest flag is in North Korea, near the border with South Korea. It flies from what used to be the world's tallest flagpole at (557 feet tall). I thought it was so interesting to note that the village it flies above is called "Peace Village" by North Koreans but "Propaganda Village" by everyone else. Because it isn't really a village! It's a fake, built to show an image of prosperity in hopes of luring folks to cross the border. Nobody lives there; there is no glass in the windows; electric lights run on timers. Maintenance workers bustle around as assigned, keeping up the lived-in appearance!
Learn about flags of the world
Enchanted Learning has a variety of world flag activities. Click around—there are lots of links to various categories of flags, plus color symbolism, flag shapes, and so forth. I clicked “Animals” and found out that animals as varied as eagles, bears, lions, dragons, snakes, and bison. Peru's flag features a llama, and Uganda's flag features a Grey Crowned Crane.
A very complete website on vexillology (the study of flags) is called “Flags of the World.”
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