Famous American Flags from History

A Rich History

The current design for the American flag is the twenty-seventh, having been modified 26 times since 1777. The fifty-star flag was adopted on July 4, 1960, after Hawaii became the fiftieth state to join the union. Our current flag has been in use for sixty-two years.

The Design

The American flag has thirteen alternating red and white stripes representing the thirteen original colonies. In the top left corner of the flag is a field of blue with fifty white stars.

The red in the flag represents hardiness and valor, the white represents purity and innocence, and the blue represents justice and perseverance. `

Grand Union Flag 1775-1777

The Grand Union flag was first flown on December 3, 1775. This flag had thirteen red and white stripes, but instead of having a field of stars in the top corner, it had the flag of Great Britain.

When the Continental Congress and Army were formed, a new symbol was needed to represent them. The Grand Union flag was this symbol.

As a result of the Flag Act of 1777, the Grand Union flag was replaced by an official flag that used stars in a blue field to represent the states in the union. Despite this flag’s short life span, it was a powerful image of encouragement and freedom for the soldiers in the Continental Army.

The Flag Act of 1777

In 1777 the U.S. Continental Congress realized the need to adopt an official design for the flag. This flag would need to thoroughly represent the new country now that it was independent of Great Britain. The Grand Union flag was fine before 1776, but a flag with the colors of England would not do after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The Flag Act of 1777 stated, “Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

The Flag Act of 1794 temporarily allowed the flag to have fifteen stripes from 1794 (until the next flag act was passed in 1818).  The next and final flag act required the number of stars to be the same as the current number of states.

Bennington Flag 1777

The Bennington flag was designed to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence with a large “76” in the center of the blue field.

The flag was named after the Battle of Bennington, which took place on August 16, 1777, in Bennington, Vermont. In this battle, about two thousand men led by General John Stark decisively defeated a British detachment led by General John Burgoyne.

Like other flags of the American Revolution, the Bennington flag had thirteen stars and thirteen stripes. However, its outermost stripes were white rather than red. Having the outermost stripes red has been customary for all other American Flags.

Another feature of the Bennington flag was that its stars were seven-pointed rather than five-pointed.

Betsy Ross Flag 1792

The Betsy Ross flag is by far the most famous American flag and is easily recognizable by its thirteen stars arranged in a circle. 

It’s said that a group of founding fathers came to Betsy Ross with a design for a flag with thirteen stripes and thirteen six-pointed stars. Betsy Ross liked the design but suggested making the stars five-pointed and arranging them in a circle. The rest was history.

If you want to read more about this incredible flag here’s a great resource.

https://www.americanacorner.com/blog/betsy-ross

The Star-Spangled Banner 1795-1818

The preserved flag, located in the Smithsonian

This is the flag that flew over Fort McHenry during its bombardment by the British in the Battle of Baltimore.

Francis Scott Key, who witnessed the attack of Fort McHenry from onboard the HMS Tonnant, was inspired to write our national anthem after seeing the flag still flying on the morning after the attack.

This flag had fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, representing the thirteen original colonies and the states of Vermont and Kentucky. It’s the only American flag to have had more than thirteen stripes.

If you want to read more about the writing of the national anthem here’s a great resource.

https://www.americanacorner.com/blog/national-anthem?rq=National%20Anthem

Fifty Star Flag 1960-Present

I’ll let Ian Harvey from Vintage News describe the creation of our current flag.

“The design of the current American flag actually began life as a high school class project, according to Reader’s Digest. High school student Bob Heft’s history teacher gave the class an assignment to bring in something they made.

Heft, being very familiar with the Betsy Ross story, and knowing there were discussions of Alaska and Hawaii eventually being granted status as states, was inspired to make a 50-star flag.

Heft modified his parent’s 48-star flag, and brought it into class as his project. His teacher wasn’t too happy with Heft’s efforts, and gave the assignment a B-.

Heft challenged the mediocre grade, saying that the changes in design for each new flag were meant to keep the flag looking pretty much the same, while allowing a star for each new state, and he felt his design accomplished that.

His history teacher told him that if he didn’t like the grade, he should get his flag accepted in Washington. If he did that, the teacher would change the grade.

Heft decided to accept the challenge and spent two years writing letters, making calls, and reaching out to his state representative, Walter Moeller, who also advocated for him. Alaska was granted statehood, and briefly there was a flag with 49 stars. But soon afterward Hawaii also became a state, and Heft got the answer to fixing his history grade.”

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed learning about these flags!

Until next time…

“The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you.”