The 50-star flag of the United States was raised for the first time officially at 12:01 a.m. on July 4, 1960, at Fort Mc Henry National Monument in Baltimore. The 50^th star had been added for Hawaii, a year earlier the 49^th, for Alaska. Before that, no star had been added since 1912, when New Mexico and Arizona were admitted to the Union.

The true history of the Stars and Stripes has become so cluttered by a volume of myth and tradition that the facts are difficult, and in some cases impossible, to establish. For example, it is not certain who designed the Stars and Stripes, who made the first such flag or even whether it ever flew in any sea fight or land battle of the American Revolution.

One they all agree on is that the Stars and Stripes originated as the result of a resolution offered by the Marine Committee of the Second Continental Congress at Philadelphia and adopted June 14, 1777. It read: that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.

The resolution establishing the flag was not even published until September 2, 1777. Despite repeated requests, Washington did not get the flag until 1783, after the Revolutionary War was over. And there is no certainty that were the Stars and Stripes.

The thirteen stripes in the modern flag, seven red and six white, stand for the thirteen colonies that joined together in 1776 to declare themselves free from the rule of England. The fifty white, five-pointed stars stand for the fifty states that now make up the nation.

The widely publicized legend that Mrs Betsy Ross made the first Stars and Stripes in June 1776, at the request of a committee composed of George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross, an uncle, was first made public in 1870, by a grandson of Mrs Ross. Historians have been unable to find a historical record of such a meeting or committee.

Poets, patriots and composers have given different names to the National Flag. The best known are:

- Old Glory – by William Driver (1803-1886). As the flag of the United States was hoisted to the masthead of his brig, he said, “I name thee Old Glory”. This is the first time that the flag was called Old Glory.

- The Star-Spangled Banner was the title of the song that Francis Scott Key wrote at night off Fort McHenry when he watched the bombardment of the fort by the British in 1814. The poem was set to an old English tune and was declared the National Anthem by Congress in 1931.

- The Stars and Stripes – George Henry Preble in 1880 wrote in his “History of the flag of the United States of America” … “when the Stars and Stripes went down at Sumter, they went up in every town and country in the local states”.

- Starry Flag – George Frederick Root was most likely the first song writer to use the word Starry in describing the American Flag. In 1862 he wrote the song:

“Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!

The boys are marching,

Cheer up comrades, they will come

And beneath the Starry Flag

We shall breathe the air again

In the free land of our beloved home”

AMERICAN FLAG ETIQUETTE

Federal law stipulates many aspects of flag etiquette. The section of law dealing with American Flag etiquette is generally referred to as the Flag Code. Some general guidelines from the Flag Code answer many of the most common questions:

• The flag should be lighted at all times, either by sunlight or by an appropriate light source.
• The flag should be flown in fair weather, unless the flag is designed for inclement weather use.
• The flag should never be dipped to any person or thing. It is flown upside down only as a distress signal.
• The flag should not be used for any decoration in general. Bunting of blue, white and red stripes is available for these purposes. The blue stripe of the bunting should be on the top.
• The flag should never be used for any advertising purpose. It should not be embroidered, printed or otherwise impressed on such articles as cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins, boxes, or anything intended to be discarded after temporary use. Advertising signs should not be attached to the staff or halyard.
• The flag should not be used as part of a costume or athletic uniform, except that a flag patch may be used on the uniform of military personnel, fireman, policeman and members of patriotic organizations.
• The flag should never have any mark, insignia, letter, word, number, figure, or drawing of any kind placed on it, or attached to it.
• The flag should never be used for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.
• When the flag is lowered, no part of it should touch the ground or any other object; it should be received by waiting hands and arms. To store the flag it should be folded neatly and ceremoniously.
• The flag should be cleaned and mended when necessary.
• When a flag is so worn it is no longer fit to serve as a symbol of our country, it should be destroyed by burning in a dignified manner.