Member-only story
The History of the American Flag
And The Culture It Represents
History changes the way other cultures view Americans, but our resolve stays the same generation after generation, and the flag is the one item that rises above all opinions and contradictions. It is a constant reminder of where we came from and how we got to where we are today. It symbolizes the freedoms we hold so dear.
As an American, the American flag is the most important artifact that holds deep strong meaning for me. Originally created by Betsy Ross in 1776, the flag idea and design were deliberated much with George Washington and other founding fathers. Exactly how Ross came to be the one person assigned this most important task is partly that she was already a flag maker and had been hired to make ship flags for the Navy. It seems that George Washington visited Ross in the early summer of 1776 to discuss the possibility of her sewing the flag for the new nation.
The Declaration of Independence was read out loud on July 4, 1776, but it was not until June 14, 1777 that the Continental Congress officially adopted the new national flag, which is why Flag Day today is on June 14. There are not a lot of written records regarding the making of the flag as the first new Americans seemed indifferent to the symbol and it wasn’t actually until The Star Spangled Banner was written in 1812…
