Our American flag is a thing of purpose, symbolism, and beauty. Too many times we forget or take its history for granted. Check out these 6 things you many not know about our American Flag. Take a moment and reflect on all its reverence and perseverance.
- Our flag has very specific colors dictated to create it that are mandated by the Color Association of the United States. If you are trying to create an exact replica you will need to use “Old Glory Red, Old Glory Blue and the exact shade of white.” (yes white does have multiple shades!) Most manufacturers use the Pantone matching shades of Dark Red (193 C) and Navy Blue (281 C).
- Betsy Ross may not have actually sewn the first flag. Although many have been taught that she did, the only evidence supporting this was presented almost a century later by her grandson. Read more about that here.
- The final 50-star design was actually created by a high school student from Ohio named Bob Heft. In 1958, the U.S. had 48 states so our flag also had 48 stars. For an American History project, Bob took apart his mother’s flag that she received as a wedding gift and created our current 50-star design. (He anticipated the next two states being admitted.) His teacher was not impressed and gave him a B-, but challenged him to get it accepted in Washington promising to raise his grade if it was accepted. 2 years later Dwight D. Eisenhower chose Bob’s design and his teacher was true to her promise raising his grade to an A!
- Every detail of our flag is symbolic even down to the colors: Red stands for valor, white for purity, and blue stands for perseverance and justice.
- There are very detailed guidelines for flying the flag. Some of these guidelines include that the flag should be at the center and highest point in a groupings of flags, it must be illuminated if flown at night, and if a flag is displayed on a vehicle it must be fixed to the front right fender and never draped over a vehicle. There are many other guidelines and you can read them all here.
- Finally, respect should always be shown to an American flag even with its disposal. According to collinsflags.com “Proper disposal is done by burning. First fold the flag and while its burning, everyone present should salute the flag, say the Pledge of Allegiance, and follow with a brief moment of silence.”
Well did you learn anything new about our beloved American flag? Let us know in the comments. We are always looking for family-friendly quality content to share here at the Dogwood Journal. If you have something you would like to share, please visit our submissions page.
