This article is taken from http://www.middletownjournal.com
On June 14, 1777, in order to establish an official flag for the new nation, the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act: “Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” The idea of an annual day specifically celebrating the Flag is believed to have first originated in 1885 by a school teacher in Wisconsin as “Flag Birthday.” The anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777 was officially established by the Proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30, 1916. While Flag Day was celebrated in various communities for years after Wilson’s proclamation, it was not until August 3, 1949, that President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14 of each year as National Flag Day.
What do the colors of the Flag mean?
The Flag Act of 1818 established the colors of the flag, the number of stripes and a process for adding stars as states are added to the union, but there is no offical meaning behind the colors. However, when the official U.S. Seal was adopted in 1782, its colors were defined by Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress: “The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue, the color of the Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice.”
Who designed the first flag?
No one knows with absolute certainty who designed the first stars and stripes or who made it. Congressman Francis Hopkinson, who also worked on the Unites States Seal and other artistic projects, seems most likely to have designed it, and few historians believe that Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress, made the first one. That claim was first made by her descendants nearly 100 years after it was supposed to have occurred.
