While doing research for a Flag Day Resource, I learned some really interesting facts about our flag. I learned so many interesting Flag Facts, in fact, that there were too many for just one post so I decided to highlight THREE MORE FLAG FACTS.
Before you read FLAG FACTS 4-6, you might want to check out the first three FLAG FACTS at THREE FACTS YOU PROBABLY DON’T KNOW ABOUT OUR FLAG.
FLAG FACT FOUR: The arrangement of our stars has a really sinuous history. In 1777, Congress specified that our flag should have 13 stars on a blue field and 13 alternating red and white stripes. But they did not specify how the stars should be arranged. And as new states were added, so were new stars and, therefore, the arrangement kept changing. And since Congress hadn’t specified an arrangement, flagmakers just came up with various designs.
Between 1776 and 1960, we’ve had twenty-seven different star arrangements including….
and, of course,
Then there was my least favorite, the
design of 1859.
Thankfully, somewhere along the line {1912, to be exact,} the specific arrangement of stars, along with other details, were mandated and that gave us a flag that was nicely organized and
Then, in 1958, as Alaska and Hawaii were nearing statehood, President Eisenhower requested that Americans submit design suggestions on how to arrange the stars to reflect 50 states. Thousands of designs were submitted, including one from a 16-year-old student from Ohio.
Robert G. Heft submitted his design after his high school teacher had turned Eisenhower’s request into a class assignment. Despite the fact that Robert’s teacher gave him a B- for his efforts, his design was selected and it is what we still use today!
I find that pretty interesting! Few, if any, other 16-year-old kids can claim such an iconic symbol as their own design.
FLAG FACT FIVE: Our flag is the third oldest flag still in use. The Stars and Stripes is only younger than the flag of
which was created in 1219
and the flag of
which has been around since 1572.
Now, this interesting fact should not be confused with how old the world’s various countries really are, because if you know much history at all, you know the US is considered to be a relatively young country at less than 250 years old. But, as some countries have decolonized, wars have been waged and other countries have changed their constitutions, flags have been changed.
Take the U.K. for instance. Obviously, Great Britain is older than we are {considering the fact that we exist simply because we wanted to free ourselves from them} but their flag, commonly known as the Union Jack, is only 219 years old. Why? Because they redesigned their flag in 1801 when they added Ireland to their “United Kingdom”.
So, as long as you don’t directly compare the age of flags with the age of countries, the fact that our flag is the third oldest in the world is a fact you could certainly use to impress your friends {or at least look cool when answering Jeopardy questions.}
If you enjoyed this post, you might want to check out my other FLAG FACTS post, THREE FACTS YOU PROBABLY DON’T KNOW ABOUT OUR FLAG.
