Published: June 16, 2009 11:01 am      

Flag Day flies high

Today is Flag Day. If you didn’t know that, don’t be too upset — Flag Day doesn’t get a lot of publicity.

Sandwiched in between patriotic holidays like Memorial Day and Independence Day — not to mention Father’s Day — the day commemorating the American flag doesn’t always get its due.

True, it’s not an official federal holiday. June 14 wasn’t even officially designated as Flag Day until an Act of Congress in 1949. But the American flag has gone through many changes over the years before becoming the version so familiar to us today. And what better day to take a look at the flag’s history?



Early flags



When the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, they had yet to decide on a national flag. The Grand Union Flag, which featured 13 red and white stripes, but a British Union flag — in place of where the stars would be — was also a feature in what many consider the first national flag.

Of course, there was no way that the British Union Jack was going to remain within the American flag. And so, the Marine Committee of the Second Continental Congress adopted a resolution instructing that the U.S. flag display thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen white stars on a blue field.

But in the resolution, there weren’t any specifics regarding the stars. Some flags had the stars in rows, while other flags had the stars arranged in a circle. The amount of points on the stars also differed from flag to flag.

One of the oldest well-known flag designs featured the 13 stars in a circle, each with five points. This flag is known as “the Betsy Ross flag,” though Ross’ contribution to the flag is debatable at best.

Largely credited with the design of the first “official” American flag is Francis Hopkinson, a delegate from New Jersey. Hopkinson’s flag featured six-pointed stars arranged in four rows.



New states bring changes



When Vermont and Kentucky joined the union, an act authorized the American flag to pick up two extra stars and stripes in 1795. That was the only American flag to feature 15 stripes — it became known as the Star Spangled Banner, which you may have heard of before.

As new states were added to the union, Congress decided to add a star for each state, but the number of stripes was reduced back to 13. After the Star Spangled Banner, the flag has changed 25 times.

The current version of the flag is the longest-tenured flag in American history (48 years), edging out the 48-star flag, which was used for 47 years, from July 4, 1912 to July 3, 1959. All updated flags since the Star Spangled Banner were officially adopted on Independence Day.