Flag Day

Today is Flag Day.  You may be saying, “So what?”  Well, I am a patriotic girl and I say we pay attention to Flag Day because our United States flag has been a symbol of hope and freedom since 1776 all over the world. 

It all started when George Washington and two other members of the Continental Congress asked Betsy Ross (let’s hear it for Betsy!) to sew the first American flag sometime in the late spring of 1776. The young widow was in her early 20's when she completed the first flag with thirteen stars arranged in a circle to represent the 13 colonies.  The colors of the flag were symbolic too. Red stood for hardiness and courage, white for purity and innocence, and blue for vigilance and justice.

A year after Betsy finished Old Glory, the Continental Congress officially adopted the design for the national flag, and henceforward the Stars and Stripes symbolized the U.S. around the world.

The first "official" Flag Day was celebrated in 1877 - the flag's centennial. Flag Day was made a permanent observance in America in 1949.

Hang your flag today!  Be proud to be an American. For further information about the Stars and Stripes go to http://www.usflag.org/