Okay, how many stars and stripes do you want?
Okay, how many stars and stripes do you want?
January 13, 2011
Here is something that I learned today: you know our flag? The one with 50 stars (one for each state) and 13 stripes (one for each of the 13 colonies)? Well obviously, it didn’t always have 50 stars, but did you know that it didn’t always have 13 stripes?
Count the stripes on the flag above and tell me how many you have. I got 15, how about you?
This was the nation’s second flag and lasted for 23 years starting May 1, 1795. The additional stars reflected the statehoods of Vermont and Kentucky.
(The first flag worked for 18 years.)
So, what the hell happened?
On this date, President George Washington approved the new flag, which by the way, is known as the “Star Spangled Banner” flag as it was flying over Fort McHenry when Francis Scott Key wrote his flag rap.
They guy we should all know about when it comes to the flag was Samuel Chester Reid, who was an officer in the US Navy. As it became apparent that it was becoming impractical to ad a star and a stripe for every new state, Congress formed a committee to investigate future alterations to the flag. In January 1817, Representative Peter Wendover asked Reid, one of the heroes of the War of 1812, for his input.Together they decided to stick with the 13 stripes to honor the original colonies and add a new star each time a state joined the union. It also provided that when the flag needed to be changed
Reid’s simple plan came to pass, but Congress opted to go for rows instead of Reid’s idea of a star of stars:
The Flag Act of 1818 was signed into law by President James Monroe on April 4 (please don’t make me ad “1818”) and that is why we celebrate Flag Day every April 4.