The Flag of the United States of America consists of 13 equal horizontal stripes of red top and bottom alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars top and bottom alternating with rows of five stars.
The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states and the 13 stripes represent the original Thirteen Colonies that rebelled against the British crown and became the first states in the Union. This part of the national flag can stand alone as a maritime flag called the Union Jack which served as the United States jack on warships from until United States warships now display as a jack, the Culpepper Ensign, which is displayed here.
The blue canton continues to be used as a jack, however, by various federally-owned vessels, including those of the Coast Guard, Military Sealift Command, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The flag has been changed 26 times since the new, state union adopted it.
The star version went unchanged for 47 years, the longest time the flag went unmodified until July 4, , when the current star flag broke the record. At the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, , the United States had no official national flag. Although it has never had any official status, it was used throughout the American Revolutionary War by George Washington and formed the basis for the design of the first official United States flag. Less than a month later, its star was included in the U.
Arkansas was part of the Louisiana Purchase and carved out of what became the Missouri Territory to become its own territory. Michigan was admitted to the Union in as a free state to help maintain the balance between slave and free states.
Michigan's admission had been thwarted because of a border dispute with Ohio — which had been admitted as a state in — but President Andrew Jackson helped Michigan save face by awarding it land from the Upper Peninsula, and then it was granted statehood, boosting the number of states to Florida, a former possession of the Spanish empire, was admitted to the Union in , raising the total number of U.
It would not remain in the Union for long: Florida would secede in In , the flag would undergo another change, this time because of the admission of Texas. Before becoming the 28th state, the Lone Star state had broken away from Mexico in It was an independent republic before joining the Union and becoming the biggest state in land mass in the contiguous 48 states.
Iowa was admitted to the Union on Dec. Its star was added to the U. Originally part of the Louisiana Purchase, Iowa grew dramatically because of its rich farmland.
Iowa had been established as a U. Wisconsin became a state on May 29, , adding the 30th star to the U. Not all residents of Wisconsin were enthusiastic about statehood. They had rejected it four times previously because they were concerned statehood would mean higher taxes.
The Gold Rush that began with the discovery of the precious metal in helped fast-track California to statehood in California became the 31st star on the American flag the following July 4. The admission of California fulfilled America's manifest destiny of a nation extending from sea to sea. On the eve of the Civil War, Minnesota was admitted to the Union on May 11, , and represented as the 32nd state on the flag less than two months later. Minnesota was admitted as a free state.
America's expansion surged to the Northwest with the admission of Oregon on Feb. Oregon, which had become a U. Kansas became the 34th state to join the Union. Voter fraud over whether the state would be admitted as a slave state or a free state delayed its admission. Benjamin Elisha Sawe February 22 in Politics. Iroquois Great Law of Peace.
United States-Iran Conflict. The War In Afghanistan. The Crisis In Venezuela. The Conflict In Ethiopia. The flag is now stored at a degree angle in a special low-oxygen, filtered light chamber and is periodically examined at a microscopic level to detect signs of decay or damage within its individual fibers.
There are a few locations where the U. It officially became our national anthem in In , the flag inspired James B. On Distant Shores The first time the American flag was flown overseas on a foreign fort was in Libya, over Fort Derne, on the shores of Tripoli in He also left pieces of another flag along the way.
It is the only time a person has been honored for cutting the flag. Flags were placed on the lunar surface on each of six manned landings during the Apollo program.
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