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Wave from page 3B seen the Stars and Stripes approved in 1777. In letters, however, Jones had read that “colors should be white, red, and blue alternately to thirteen” with a “blue field with thirteen stars.” Apparently based upon this description, a recognizable ensign was quickly made to fly aboard the Serapis, and Dutch records were edited to include a sketch of the ensign to make it official. The Dutch could, therefore, recognize the flag and avoid the legal controversy of Jones’ captured ship. The Dutch records survive and provide the original sketch of the flag. Ironically, the Dutch acceptance of the misconstrued design as a national ensign marked the first time a foreign power recognized the United States as an independent entity. The Bennington Flag Another popular flag design whose story doesn’t pass historical muster is the Bennington Flag. The flag features the number “76,” 13 eight-pointed stars and an unusual white-first stripe layout. The story goes that it was carried at the 1777 Battle of Bennington, Vermont, during which 2,000 rebels surprised and decisively beat a 700man British Army detachment searching for horses and supplies. The flag was said to have been passed down through the family of one of the battle’s veterans. But modern examination of the original flag – which is preserved in the Bennington Museum – shows that it was woven using power looms invented in the 1820s, when the highly stylized font used for the numerals was also popular. It is now thought the flag
The
JULY 1, 2011
EAST COUNTY LIFE
Bob Heft designed the 50-star American flag when he was a 17-year-old high school student. The flag earned him a “B-” from his teacher, but the grade was changed to an “A” when the design was adopted.
THE 34-STAR CIVIL WAR FLAG
Photo courtesy of www.allflag.blogspot.com
was made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the revolution, and acquired its battlefield legend as time blurred the facts with latterday family histories. The Star Spangled Banner (Old Glory) In 1794, the first post-revolution change to the Stars and Stripes came with the admittance to the Union of Vermont and Kentucky. In addition to two more stars, the new design added two stripes, one for each new state. It became apparent that adding stripes for each new state would be a problem, however, and when five more states were admitted in 1818, the number of stripes was set permanently back at 13. This flag’s greatest distinction goes beyond its unique design. It was the 15-star, 15-stripe flag that flew over Fort McHenry, which defended Baltimore Harbor against British warships during the War of 1812.
The flag, originally 30x42 feet with stars two feet in diameter, still flew over the fort after 25 hours of bombardment, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write the poem “The Defence of Fort McHenry.” The poem would later be set to music, renamed The Star-Spangled Banner and become our national anthem. Ravaged by time and souvenir collectors, the Star Spangled Banner is now eight feet shorter and bears only 14 stars. A $7 million, 10-year preservation effort was finished in 2008, and the flag is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The 34-star Civil War flag Laid out in the traditional pattern of stars in a horizontal pattern, the flag that flew over the Capitol during most of the Civil War is special for something that didn’t
happen. Faced with pressure from Congress to remove the stars representing the 11 seceding states of the South, President Abraham Lincoln steadfastly refused. The states had not left the Union, he insisted; they were only in rebellion. It was an important distinction that helped keep foreign powers from coming to the aid of the South. All 34 stars remained. The 50-star pattern It’s probably fitting that, in a nation that proudly boasts that any child can become president, the 50-star flag in use today was designed by a teenager. Bob Heft, a 17-year-old high school student in Ohio, created the 50-star design for a high school history project in 1958. He received a “B-” but two years later his creation was chosen as the new national flag – and his teacher revised his grade to an “A.” Now in its 51st year, Heft’s design has been the national flag longer than any other. Thank you to www.foundingfathers.info, Matthew Robinson of the Claremont Institute, www.gadsden.info/history.html, www. ushistory.org, www.betsyrosshouse.org, www. allflag.blogspot.com and www.usflag.org for information in this article.
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