Consequently, he reduced the number of stripes back to 13, and called for the arrangement of the stars in rows for naval vessels. He understood the importance of the flag’s visual recognition at sea. Reid, a naval hero in the War of 1812, was asked to design the new flag. The Flag of 1818 Set the Standard for TodayĬaptain Samuel C. So, 23 years later, with 20 states in the Union, the question of changing the flag was raised. This, however, proved difficult due to the expense of changing the entire flag each time a new state was added to the Union. It was thought that one stripe and one star should be added for each new state. In 1795 another flag design was officially documented with 15 stripes and 15 stars. More States First Meant More Stripes and Stars Some believe that the stars came from George Washington’s family crest. Possibly it was easier to cut five points from cloth (as legend says was demonstrated by Betsy Ross). It is unclear how the flag developed five-pointed stars, as six or more points were customary. The first Flag Act in 1777 called for 13 stripes, alternating red and white, and a union of 13 stars, white on a field of blue. Even our national anthem echoes this as it refers to “the broad stripes and bright stars.” The First Flag Act Called for 13 Stripes and 13 Stars In the earlier descriptions of the flag, the stripes were given more significance and importance. These stripes were red and white or red, white and blue. The earliest American flags usually had only stripes. It was the stripes that symbolized America’s rebellion against the British for many years. For instance, the privateer flag, flown by many American privateer ships, was made of stripes, but they were usually yellow and black. These stripes, however, came in different colors. Not all flags had stripes, but many did as a symbol of liberty. There was, however, no official American flag, so many flags were flown and carried throughout the Revolutionary War. Consequently, when Washington’s men raised it, the British thought they were surrendering! The Patriots Continued to Carry the Stripes of LibertyĪfter America declared her independence, placing the British cross on the flag seemed inappropriate. This was a flag that would not have been well known to the colonists, but the British in Boston knew it quite well. Coincidentally it was the same design as the British East India Company flag of 1701. The stripes were meant to symbolize protest of the King, but the flag still carried the British cross in the canton. They then raised the “grand Union Flag” which was the British “red ensign” with 13 stripes added to symbolize the newly united colonies. It was soon after that in Cambridge that Washington took command of the united colonial militia. Washington’s ‘Grand Union’ Flag Still Looked British but it Bore the StripesĪ regimental flag carried by a Philadelphia troop that escorted General George Washington to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1775 also bore 13 blue and silver stripes on its canton (upper left corner). It is their flag that first earned the title of “the rebel stripes” by the British. The Sons of Liberty protested the British Stamp Act as well as the Tea Act, participating in the Boston Tea Party. The Sons of Liberty Flag was likely the first American flag to use red and white stripes, although there is some disagreement as to whether they were horizontal of vertical. Since then it has gone through many changes, but through them all, the stripes of liberty remained. The American flag was first conceived as a protest against tyranny.
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