Flag Day

Flag Day is celebrated on June 14 and celebrates the history of the American Flag.

Here are some interesting facts about the American Flag.

• The celebration of the flag was invented by a teacher. In 1885, a 19-year-old teacher named Bernard J. CiGrand asked his class to write an essay on the symbolism of our flag. He spent the following half-century trying to make Flag Day a national holiday.
• The original flag had 13 stars and 13 stripes.
• Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag.
• There have been 27 versions of the American Flag.
• Red symbolizes hardiness and valor, white symbolizes purity and innocence and blue represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice.
• The designer of the American flag was Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence as a delegate from New Jersey.
• The current flag was designed by a teenager. In 1958, then-17-year-old Robert G. Heft of Lancaster, Ohio submitted the design in a contest. President Dwight Eisenhower chose Robert's design from over 1,500 other submissions.
• The current flag is the only one to have lasted more than 50 years.
• Flag Day was established by the Proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30th, 1916.
• The final star, for Hawaii, was added in 1960.
• The flag is normally flown from sunrise to sunset.
• The flag should not be flown at night without a light on it.
• The first time the flag was flown after being adopted was on Aug. 3, 1777, in Rome, New York.
• There are six American flags on the moon. Five are standing, but Neil Armstrong's fell over.
• The flag should not be flown in the rain or inclement weather.
• After a tragedy or death, the flag is flown at half staff for 30 days. It's called "half staff" on land, and "half-mast" on a ship.
• When your flag is old and has seen better days, it is time to retire it. Old flags should be burned or buried.
• If you like to study flags, then you are a Vexillologist!
• An American flag should never touch the floor or the ground.
• When displayed on a wall or window the blue field should be in the upper left corner.
• The military folds the flag with 13 folds, each with symbolic meaning.
• 50 flags fly 24 hours a day around the Washington monument.
• 95% of U.S. flags are made in the U.S.A.
• The U.S. flag always flies at the top of a staff above any other flag.

Photo by Cristina Glebova on Unsplash