The Origin of American Stars and Stripes

According to the website of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the American flag is one of the oldest flags in the world. George Washington raised the Continental Army flag for the first time in 1776, which is a British flag with red and white stripes. Now the position of the British flag has become a star.

In 1776 and 1777, flags with 13 stripes have several different designs. It was not until June 1777 that the US Congress formulated the official design style, and now this day is designated as National Flag Day. 13 red and white stripes and 13 stars represent 13 states at that time. Washington explained at that time: "We pick stars from the sky, we get red from our motherland, and red is separated by white stripes, which means that we have been separated from our motherland, and white stripes will be passed on to future generations, which will always represent freedom."

There is no record to prove who designed the original star-spangled banner, but historians believe that Francis Hopkinson, one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence, may have modified the unofficial continental flag into the present American flag. Legend has it that Betsy Ross turned a six-pointed star into a five-pointed star and sewed the first American flag.

The American flag first appeared in1the brandy campaign in Pennsylvania in September 777. It first flew on foreign territory in the Battle of the Bahamas at the beginning of 1778, when American troops occupied a British fortress.

After Vermont and Kentucky became American states in 1790, the US Congress agreed to add two stars and two stripes to the national flag to represent the original 13 colony (now called the state).

With other States joining the United States, the stripes on the national flag obviously cannot be continuously increased, so the US Congress legislated in 18 18 to restore the national flag to the original 13 stripes, but allowed to add stars to represent new States.

At that time, the law clearly stipulated that stripes should be horizontal, red and white, and the 20 States of the Federation should be represented by stars. But it didn't explain the depth of color or the arrangement of stars, so it was very different at that time. During the civil war, golden stars were more common than white ones, and the stars sometimes lined up in a circle.

In the first summer of the American Civil War, the Stars and Stripes first flew at the flag day celebration in Hartford, Connecticut. 1800 later, the school held a flag day to help immigrant descendants understand the United States, and individual communities held their own commemorative ceremonies. Because hanging the national flag is a symbol of patriotism, the school still hangs the national flag at the school gate during class.

19 16, the president of the United States declared National Flag Day, but it was not until 1949 that the United States Congress voted to make National Flag Day a permanent holiday. When the stars and stripes in 1959 and 1960 are added with the 49th and 50th stars respectively, their specifications become more accurate. The specified pattern is 7 red stripes and 6 white stripes, while the upper and lower stripes are red. The upper left corner is dark blue from the top to the quarter below the fourth red stripe. The stars are arranged in 9 rows with one corner facing upwards. There are 6 stars in odd columns and 5 stars in even columns, and their center points are between the stars in the longest columns.