Flag Facts | The Wolfe Pack {Reviews~Support~Opinions for the Discerning Homeschool Mom}

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.}

FLAG FACT SIX: Astronauts didn’t fly with our flag until their eighth mission. The iconic look of our astronaut’s spacesuits with Old Glory on the shoulder wasn’t a part of our space program until 1965. And considering that the Space Race has been part of the international political climate since 1955, this is a rather interesting fact.

But what’s even more interesting is the fact that it was an astronaut himself that had the idea. And then he paid for the flag patch out of his own pocket! Astronaut Ed White was scheduled to make America’s first spacewalk on the Gemini IV mission. Realizing the historic nature of the photos that would be taken, he and mission commander Jim McDivitt paid out of their own pockets for flag patches to wear on their uniforms. Recognizing a good idea, NASA then made them standard issue.

Of these THREE FLAG FACTS, which do you find the most interesting? Leave a comment below and let me know!

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.

Flag Day is just around the corner and if you are anything like me, you probably have little clue what the holiday means.

But, don’t worry. I did a wee bit of research {thanks Google} on the subject of Flag Day {mostly because I did not want my son to be clueless on the subject too} and found the simple answer.

Flag Day is celebrated on June 14th and has been set aside to commemorate the day we adopted our nation’s flag, June 14, 1777. On that day, nearly 250 years ago, the Second Continental Congress adopted the country’s first official flag by resolution.”

This just means that the most important powdered-wig wearing men of the day voted on an official flag. And they did so on June 14th, 1777, so we are supposed to celebrate that fact every June 14th.

It’s that simple.

But, my research revealed some other really interesting facts. I learned several things that caused me to wonder why my parents paid good money for a private school education.

But I’ll just share three of the most interesting things I learned.

FLAG FACT ONE: The version of our flag that we first flew had Great Britain’s Union Jack in the prime corner spot.

In order to find this interesting, you have to know two things:

A. At that exact moment in time, we considered Great Britain to be our oppressors and were currently at war to free ourselves from them.

B. Great Britain’s flag consisted then {and still does} of one big fat Union Jack.

So, why on earth was it ever considered a good idea to have our oppressor’s flag highlighted on ours? Thankfully, George Washington, who was the commander of the Continental Army at the time, wised up and decided this would be bad for morale among the soldiers and the Union Jack was replaced with stars {one for each original colony}.

FLAG FACT TWO: Despite what any kindergarten kid will tell you, there is no real proof that Betsy Ross had anything to do with our flag. As we all know, Betsy Ross is credited with making the first flag {like the one pictured above,} but there is actually no historical proof that this is the case. There are no records from the Continental Congress, no letters from George Washington, no written correspondence from anybody about Betsy’s role in sewing the first flag.

So, why are we taught that Betsy Ross had anything to do with the creation of our flag? Because Betsy’s relatives claim that they heard extensive details of the flag’s creation. While the evidence is simply not sufficient to definitively classify it as a fact or a fiction, you can examine that evidence yourself and draw your own conclusions. You can read the testimony of William Canby and the affidavits of Rachel Fletcher, Sophia Hildebrant and Margaret Boggs to decide for yourself.

FLAG FACT THREE: We’re not supposed to be wearing the flag unless it’s on the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations.

This means that Old Navy has been doing this all wrong.

And so have Olympic athletes,

cowboy boot manufacturers,

and recent mask makers.

The rules for handling and displaying the U.S. Flag are defined by a law known as the U.S. Flag Code. There are dozens of rules to follow and you can read them in full here, but the one rule I am referencing reads like this:

The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free.”

There is debate whether this means you can’t make any items that even remotely represent the flag {see the mask above} or whether you just can’t take an actual flag and wear it like clothing {see Shaun White’s photo above.}

Either way, I found it very surprising since we see dogs wearing flag bandannas, models wearing flag bikinis and advertisements for flag blankets, rugs and tableware all the time.

Which flag fact did you find most interesting?

If you want to read more interesting FLAG FACTS, check out this post, Three More FLAG FACTS You Probably Don’t Know {but should!}

And if you are looking for a quick and fun resource to learn more about FLAG DAY, check out this FLAG DAY FACT PACK. You can snag it for free here {if you subscribe to my newsletter.} Or if you prefer to pay for it, you can head here instead. It’s perfect for kids of nearly every age {and adults will certainly learn from it too!}