▶ Key Takeaways
- There’s a reason why we celebrate Flag Day every year on June 14th.
- This is the date in 1777 when the Continental Congress approved a conceptual design for a national flag.
- Note that the national flag was created before the nation existed – while it was doubtful that the War of Independence would succeed.
- Contrary to popular belief, Betsy Ross did not design the original American flag.
- According to Continental Congress journals of deliberations, Francis Hopkinson – one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and a Continental Congress representative from New Jersey – designed the first American flag.
- Hopkinson also designed the Great Seal of the United States and the first U.S. coin.
- There have been 26 official revisions of the American flag since the original.
- The Star-Spangled Banner – our national anthem – was named after the official name of the flag that flew over Fort McHenry, Maryland, during the War of 1812.
- The poem that Francis Scott Key wrote was originally called “The Defense of Fort McHenry.”
- Six American flags are planted on the surface of the moon.
- The largest American flag ever made to date measures 255 feet by 505 feet and weighs about 3,000 pounds.
The War of Independence – also called The Revolutionary War – began on April 19, 1775.
It ended on September 3, 1783, when the Treaty of Paris was signed – which officially recognized the United States as an independent nation.
During the war with Great Britain, two important decisions were made by the Continental Congress – one you know about and one you probably don’t know about:
- The Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4, 1776.
- The design of a national flag was approved on June 14, 1777.
The resolution stated: “Resolved, that the Flag of the thirteen United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation.”[1]
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation establishing June 14th as a national Flag Day.
Congressional legislation designating June 14th as national Flag Day was signed into law by President Harry Truman in 1949.
Here are 8 facts about the American Flag that you were never taught in school:[2]
1. Many Americans don’t know the meaning and purpose of the American flag.
We live in an age today when many Americans have very little interest in our past as a nation – especially our past before we became an independent nation.
Kids are not taught in school today to respect or appreciate the tremendous sacrifices our founders made.
As British citizens, they committed treason when they declared their independence from Great Britain and created a new national flag.
Some American citizens couldn’t care less…
Some people who enjoy living in freedom in America even have a disdain for the nation’s founders, the nation’s history, and the nation’s flag.
The flag itself is just a piece of red, white, and blue cloth.
But it represents the individual liberty we enjoy as American citizens.
It represents freedom and self-determination.
It represents opportunity.
It represents justice and equal protection under laws that apply to all.
When we pledge our allegiance to the flag, we are pledging allegiance to the principles the flag represents.
2. Betsy Ross didn’t design the American flag.
The story of George Washington requesting Betsy Ross – a Philadelphia seamstress – to make the first American flag is an unverified legend.[3]
According to the legend, Betsy Ross suggested that the stars on the flag have 5 points rather than the original 6 points that were on the sketch that George Washington showed her.
This and other details of Betsy’s involvement in the flag’s design were passed down by her children.
The story was told by her grandson, William J. Canby, at the Philadelphia Historical Society in 1870 – and gained national acceptance.
In 1952, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 3-cent postage stamp commemorating the bicentennial of Betsy Ross’ birth.
But historians have searched through diaries, letters, and journals of the Continental Congress, and have found no records of a flag being discussed during the timeframe claimed.
It is certainly likely that Betsy Ross met Washington in Philadelphia at some point – since that is where the Continental Congress met…
And she may have sewn American flags in her family’s shop.
But historians credit the flag’s original design to someone else.
3. The actual designer of the flag was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Francis Hopkinson was a native of Philadelphia who represented New Jersey in the Continental Congress.
He was appointed to the Continental Navy Board in 1776, and there is written evidence in the journals of deliberations suggesting he used this time to work on the American flag’s design.[4]
“Hopkinson’s gravestone in center city Philadelphia, which outlines many of his accomplishments, also includes the phrase ‘designer of the American flag.’”[5]
Hopkinson also designed the Great Seal and the first coin of the United States.
4. There is a flag that was named “the star-spangled banner.”
One of the most famous American flags in history is a 30-foot-by-42-foot flag that flew over Fort McHenry, Maryland, during the War of 1812.
The British Navy had begun a heavy bombardment of the fort on September 13, 1814 – part of a planned assault on Baltimore, Maryland that lasted all night.
Despite many direct hits from cannon fire, the flag remained flying and the fort refused to surrender.
The British finally withdrew, inspiring Francis Scott Key – a witness to the relentless assault – to write a poem.
The poem was called, “The Defense of Fort McHenry.”
Later, the poem was set to music and renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner” – which is now our national anthem.
In 1912, the flag — which now measures 30 feet by 34 feet — was permanently donated to the Smithsonian.[6]
It has been on display at the National Museum of American History since 1964.[7]
5. There have been 27 different official versions of the American flag.
The arrangement of the stars on the flag varied according to the flag-maker’s own preferences until 1912.
President Taft then standardized the flag’s 48 stars into 6 rows of 8.[8]
Two new states joined the union in 1959:
- Alaska became the 49th state on January 3rd
- Hawaii became the 50th state on August 21st
A 49-star flag was created in 1959 – and the current 50-star version became official on July 4, 1960.
The Guinness Book of World Records currently lists the American flag as the record holder for “Most changes to a national flag.”[9]
6. The designer of the current 50-star pattern of the American flag.
An Ohio high school student named Robert Heft claimed that he designed the current 50-star flag pattern in 1958 as part of a class assignment.
In an interview shortly before his death in 2009, he claimed his design was approved after a phone call with President Dwight Eisenhower.[10]
However, a 2022 report by Slate found multiple inconsistencies in Heft’s story and a lack of primary-source evidence.
“The real origins of the flag remain unclear,” wrote Alec Nevala-Lee in the Slate report.
“Photographs of flags with the modern arrangement of 50 stars were widely circulated as early as 1952.”
“Of all the people who took credit for spearheading the design, perhaps the most convincing was William R. Furlong, a retired rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, who was the first official known to have discussed the flag with Eisenhower.”[11]
7. Six American flags are planted on the moon.
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong – the first human to set foot on the moon – planted the first banner on solid land outside of earth.
Since that first historic moon landing, 5 other Apollo missions left American flags on the lunar surface.
They are all symbolic… they are not representative of any territorial claim.
The National Air and Space Museum states that the “United Nations Treaty on Outer Space precludes any territorial claims on the Moon.”[12]
The flags on the moon were specially designed to appear as though they are flying in a breeze.
Said the National Air and Space Museum in 2009:
“NASA engineers, who must have had premonitions of a flag hanging limply in one of the most historic scenes ever captured on film, designed the Moon flag, and all subsequent ones, with a horizontal bar that allowed them to ‘fly’ without the benefit of a breeze.”[13]
8. The largest American flag ever made weighs 3,000 pounds.
The Superflag – commissioned by California resident Thomas “Ski” Demski in 1981 – measures 255 feet by 505 feet and weighs around 3,000 pounds.[14]
The stars are 17 feet high and the stripes are 20 feet wide.
The banner reportedly requires about 600 volunteers to transport it to display events and unfurl it.
Acuity Insurance of Wisconsin boasts the tallest flagpole – and the largest known free-flying American flag.[15]
The flagpole is around 400 feet tall… and the flag it displays is 70 feet by 140 feet and weighs about 250 pounds.
The company calls it “the world’s tallest symbol of freedom.”[16]
Not to be outdone, Fox News reported last year that President Donald Trump’s America250 organization is planning to create the new largest American flag in existence.[17]
The banner will measure 776 feet wide and 1,492 feet long.[18]
What do you think? Email me at [email protected].
Action:
- If you have an American flag, display it outside your house – not just on Flag Day or on the 4th of July – but every day. Or at least every weekend. Shelley and I display our flag at our house.
- Tell your kids and grandkids about the history of our flag and what it stands for.
- Get my book The Great Deception: 10 Shocking Dangers and the Blueprint for Rescuing the American Dream to learn what Americanism is all about. Click HERE to order the book online.You can order the book on AmazonOr get the audiobook version HERE and on Kindle HERE.
You can also get an autographed edition online HEREor by phone at 615-814-6633 (M-F 10 am to 3 pm).
You can also send a check for $26.13 (including shipping) payable to Media Specialists and send it to this address:
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Nashville, TN 37208
FAQs:
Q: Why do we celebrate Flag Day on June 14th?
A: The Continental Congress approved the design for the first national flag of the United States on June 14, 1777.
Q: What is significant about creating a national flag in 1777?
A: The flag was created after the Declaration of Independence was approved, but before the colonies had won their independence from Great Britain – when the outcome of the War of Independence was in doubt.
Q: Did Betsy Ross design the first American flag, as is commonly believed?
A: No. The popular story of Betsy Ross designing the flag at George Washington’s request is an unverified legend.
Q: If Betsy Ross didn’t design the first American flag, who did?
A: Historians credit Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and New Jersey representative to the Continental Congress, with designing the original American flag.
Q: When was Flag Day officially established?
A: President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day in 1916. It became an official national observance when President Harry Truman signed congressional legislation into law in 1949.
Q: Why does the Guinness Book of World Records list the American flag as undergoing more revisions than any other national flag?
A: There have been 26 different official versions of the American flag since the first one. The arrangement of stars varied according to the preferences of the flag makers until standardized by President Taft in 1912. The current 50-star design became official on July 4, 1960, after Alaska and Hawaii joined the Union.
Q: Who designed the current 50-star American flag?
A: While Ohio high school student Robert Heft claimed credit for the 50-star design as a class project, later reporting (including a 2022 Slate investigation) found inconsistencies in his story and noted that the modern star arrangement appeared in photographs as early as 1952. The real origins remain somewhat unclear.
Q: What is the connection between the American flag and the national anthem?
A: The national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” takes its name from the large flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. Francis Scott Key witnessed the British bombardment and wrote the poem “The Defense of Fort McHenry” after seeing the flag still flying, which was later set to music.
Q: How big is the largest American flag ever made?
A: The “Superflag” measures 255 feet by 505 feet and weighs about 3,000 pounds. Approximately 600 volunteers are required to transport it to events and unfurl it.
About Craig Huey:
Craig Huey is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and publisher of The Huey Alert and Direct Marketing Update. He is also the author of The Great Deception: 10 Shocking Dangers and the Blueprint for Rescuing the American Dream, exposing the lies of socialism and defending America’s founding principles. Craig appears on national media such as FOX, FOX Business, Newsmax and more. He also co-hosts The Huey Alert Podcast with his wife Shelly and helps business leaders, Christians, conservatives, libertarians, young people and more understand the intersection of faith, politics, and freedom.
[1] https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/june-14/
[2] Michael Gryboski, https://www.christianpost.com/news/flag-day-7-interesting-facts-about-the-american-flag.html
[3] https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/long-may-it-wave-the-evolution-of-the-american-flag/the-legend-of-betsy-ross
[4] Tyler Piccotti, https://www.biography.com/history-culture/a44177009/who-designed-the-american-flag
[5] Ibid.
[6] https://www.si.edu/spotlight/flag-day/banner-facts
[7] Ibid.
[8] https://guides.loc.gov/william-howard-taft
[9] https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/450714-most-changes-to-a-national-flag
[10] Alec Nevala-Lee, https://web.archive.org/web/20220701200742/https://slate.com/culture/2022/06/american-flag-history-scam-designer-robert-heft-50-stars.html
[11] Ibid.
[12] https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/moons-early-light
[13] Ibid.
[14] https://www.americanflags.com/blog/post/where-to-see-the-words-largest-american-flags
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Brooke Singman, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trumps-america250-create-worlds-largest-us-flag-taller-than-empire-state-building
[18] Ibid.