According to popular
legend, the first American Flag was made by Betsy
Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress who was acquainted
with George Washington, leader of the Continental
Army, and other influential Philadelphians. In May
1776, so the story goes, General Washington and two
representatives from the Continental Congress
visited Ross at her upholstery shop and showed her a
rough design of the American Flag. Although
Washington initially favored using a star with six
points, Ross advocated for a five-pointed star,
which could be cut with just one quick snip of the
scissors, and the gentlemen were won over.
Unfortunately, historians have never been able to
verify this charming version of events, although it
is known that Ross made flags for the navy of
Pennsylvania. The story of Washington's visit to the
flag maker became popular about the time of the
country's first centennial, after William Canby, a
grandson of Ross, told about her role in shaping
U.S. history in a speech given at the Philadelphia
Historical Society in March 1870.
What is
known is that the first unofficial national flag,
called the Grand Union Flag or the Continental
Colours, was raised at the behest of General
Washington near his headquarters outside Boston,
Mass., on Jan. 1, 1776. The American Flag had 13
alternating red and white horizontal stripes and the
British Union Flag (a predecessor of the Union Jack)
in the canton. Another early flag had a rattlesnake
and the motto “Don't Tread on Me.”
The first
official American Flag, also known as the Stars and
Stripes, was approved by the Continental Congress on
June 14, 1777. The blue canton contained 13 stars,
representing the original 13 colonies, but the
layout varied. Although nobody knows for sure who
designed the flag, it may have been Continental
Congress member Francis Hopkinson.
After
Vermont and Kentucky were admitted to the Union in
1791 and 1792, respectively, two more stars and two
more stripes were added in 1795. This 15-star,
15-stripe American Flag was the “star-spangled
banner” that inspired lawyer Francis Scott Key to
write the poem that later became the U.S. national
anthem.
In 1818, after five more states had
gained admittance, Congress passed legislation
fixing the number of stripes at 13 and requiring
that the number of stars equal the number of states.
The last new star, bringing the total to 50, was
added on July 4, 1960, after Hawaii became a state.
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