Facts about the American Flag

Here are just a few American Flag Facts that you may not be aware of. There will be more to follow...

-On January 1^st 1776, the First American Flag, dubbed the “Grand Union Flag”, was ordered to be raised by George Washington during the siege of Boston. This flag had 13 alternating red and white stripes but it had the British Union Jack in the upper left-hand corner instead of stars.

-The Pledge of Allegiance originated in 1892 when Francis Bellamy wrote it for students to recite on Columbus Day. Soon after that it became a part of every child’s school day. It wasn’t until 1942 that Congress officially recognized it as our Nation’s pledge. And in 1943 the Supreme Court ruled that children could not be forced to recite it.

-You do not have to burn a flag that has touched the ground or been marked up. It is entirely acceptable to wash and then dry clean a dirty flag. If a flag is past the point of being repaired or cleaned, it should be properly destroyed in a flag burning ceremony. If you need to you can contact your local Boy Scout organization as they hold American Flag burning ceremonies from time to time.

-The term, “Old Glory”, was used at first by a shipmaster of Salem, Massachusetts, Captain William Driver in 1831. He used the term when he had first used an American Flag given to him by some friends aboard the brig Charles Doggett. When his sailors and he set sail on a voyage and the Flag was caught by an ocean breeze he had exclaimed, “Old Glory”, which is a term still used to this very day.