It’s Flag Day – Stars and Stripes Forever!
God Bless America!On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress approved the official flag for our new nation. “The flag of the United States be 13 stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”
Before then, the flag was the “Continental Union Flag” or “Grand Union Flag” with the British Union symbol in the upper left corner. Between 1777-1960 the flag changed shape, design, and arrangement (stars and stripes to be added to reflect the admission of each new state) 26 times; the flag today is the 27th version. Each took an act of congress to make it official.
The Story of Old Glory:
William Driver, a sea merchant from Salem, Massachusetts, was believed to be the first to proudly call the flag, “Old Glory.” It was made for him sometime between 1823 and 1824 by his mother and a group of seamstresses from Salem after Driver had become the captain of his own ship.
Driver’s flag, measuring 10×17-feet, flew high on his ship that sailed the world – China, India, throughout the Atlantic and the South Pacific.
When he retired and moved to Nashville to be with family, Driver would stretch the flag from his house to a tree as a display of his love of country. During the civil war it was a point of contention to have it out, but he refused to take it down. It was “Old Glory,” after all, and had weathered many storms and attempts to deface it.
The northern was at odds with his southern born family members, including his sons.
It has been preserved by the Smithsonian and the National Museum of American History.
Interesting for sure. Want to read more about Driver and the infamous “Old Glory,” go to:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-flag-came-to-be-called-old-glory-18396/
