The
American Flag
The American flag is one of the most popular American symbols. Flag Day is on June 14th. The Flag has thirteen stripes, seven red and six white. They stand for the thirteen colonies that constituted the United States. Red stands for hardiness and valor. White signifies purity and innocence. The Flag also has fifty stars, one for each of the fifty states. The background behind the stars is blue, because blue symbolizes perseverance and justice.
At first there was a circle of twelve stars on the American flag, with one star in the middle. The number was increased to fifteen and then back to thirteen. Finally, legislation said "“That on the admission of every new state into the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag ...” Tradition says that a woman named Betsy Ross made the first American Flag.
Flag Care
The Flag should be displayed only from sunrise to sunset. It should only be displayed at night when it is to have a patriotic effect.
The Flag should never be displayed in inclement weather. It should be flown on all days that the weather permits.
The Flag should be displayed on the main building of every public place, such as schools and workplaces.
The Flag should always be raised briskly and lowered ceremoniously.
The Flag should never be shown disrespect of any kind.
The Flag should never be dipped to any person or thing.
The Flag should never touch anything below it, such as water, ground, and floor.
The Flag should always be carried aloft and free.
The Flag should never be festooned, drawn back, folded, or used as drapery. When you wish to drape platforms and such, you should use blue, white, and red bunting. The blue should be at the top, white in the middle, and red at the bottom.
The Flag should never be used in a manner that it could be damaged in any way.
The Flag should never have anything such as marks, words, or pictures placed on it.
The Flag should never be used for carrying, holding, or receiving anything.
The Flag should never be embroidered on anything such as cushions, hankerchiefs, or napkins.
The Flag should be burned if it is no longer in fitting condition.
Information on this page was taken from these websites: http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/refarticle.aspx?refid=761577016 and http://www.city-net.com/~davekle/flag2.html. The images were taken from http://www.theflagpole.com.