A ship’s captain, Stephen Driver, is credited with coining the name “Old Glory” for the American Flag in 1837.  A friend gave him a beautiful 24 star flag for his ocean voyage, and as the flag unfurled in the breeze for the first time, Driver called it “Old Glory”.  Driver retired to Nashville, Tennessee, taking his flag with him.  During the Civil War, he hid the flag in his quilt to prevent the rebels from destroying his beloved flag.  But, I am getting ahead of my story.  Let’s start at the beginning.

In December 1775, as the possibility of war for independence from England grew closer, a small group of important colonial leaders met at a dinner party.  The conversation turned to a question of a flag to represent the fight for freedom.  Many different ideas for the flag were offered but it was Benjamin Franklin’s suggestion of modification of a flag already in use for a half a century that was met with enthusiasm.  This flag was the flag of the East India Company, which featured a field of alternating  red and white stripes  and the Cross of St. George—a red cross on a white field.  The men at the dinner, including George Washington, thought this was a great idea.

             Twenty days after that dinner, on January 1, 1776, George Washington hoisted this national flag for the first time at Prospect Hill near Cambridge, MA.  The flag had 13 alternating red and white stripes, with the Union Jack in the canton, the upper left hand corner.  It was called the Grand Union flag.  Because of its connection to the British flag, the Union Jack in the canton was unacceptable and eventually was replace by the 13 white stars arranged in a circle on a blue background, so that no one colony would be viewed about the others.  Originally, each colony had their own individual flag but it was the Stars and Stripes that helped to unite a young nation against a common enemy.

             The story that George Washington consulted Betsy Ross and Betsy Ross designed the 5 pointed star rather than 6 pointed is an oral history with no written documents to verify Betsy’s account.  Betsy died at the age of 84 in 1836, but it wasn’t until her grandson, William J. Canby, presented a paper to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania that Betsy’s involvement with the flag was publicly known.  It is most likely that the flag had no single designer but instead a combination of ideas from many people.  There is no record of the flag with stars and stripes being used before June 14, 1777 when Congress passed the first law giving the country its first official flag.

             Our flag is a symbol for freedom around the world.  It inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem, “The Star Spangled Banner” at the battle of 1812.  It traveled to the North Pole with Robert Peary in 1909 and with our soldiers as they fought in our wars fro our freedom.  The Stars and Stripes found its way to the moon with Neil Armstrong in 1969 and is proudly displayed by households across our nation on July Fourth.                     

By: Grammy : Mrs. Schmucker