Flag Facts 1. Flags are "the undiscovered collectible." Although flags have been around in human societies for over 5000 years, they have served primarily symbolic and practical purposes such as signaling. Thus, with the exception of a few banners of historical or religious significance, most flags were used until they wore out. Only very recently have Americans become aware of the value of old flags for their artistic beauty, educational significance, and appeal to the collector. The broad category of "Americana flags" is particularly sought after. 2. The study of flags is known as vexillology. The word comes from the Latin vexillum, which literally means "a small sail." People have studied flags for hundreds of years, but the term for that specialty was only coined in 1956 by a teenager who later became director of the Flag Research Center. Flag collectors are known as vexillophiles; flag designers are called vexillographers. Variations of the word vexillology also have been used in many other languages around the world. 3. Flags served a utilitarian function on the battlefield - to indicate the direction the troops were heading; being on long poles enabled flags to be seen above the smoke and brawl of battle. Flag bearers were wounded or killed in proportionately high numbers. With the advent of smokeless gunpowder and the machine gun, carrying any flag into battle was with great risk and was soon discontinued. 4. The flag of the United States has at least three dozen names. "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "Old Glory" were specific flags whose names eventually came to be applied to any version of the Stars and Stripes. In addition, the flag has been referred to as the "Banner of the Free," the "Red, White, and Blue," the "Flag That Makes You Free," and the "Flower Flag." George M. Cohan, quoting a Civil War veteran, wrote the song "She's a Grand Old Rag," but public opinion forced him to change it to "Grand Old Flag." 5. The Stars and Stripes was the world's first secular national flag. Throughout history rulers and countries were closely associated with a single predominant religion, which was reflected in the design and use of their national flags. In contrast, the red-white-blue colors and the symbols (stars, stripes) of "Old Glory" were chosen in 1777 to represent the structure of American government and the guiding principles of the country, including liberty of conscience. Freedom for Americans to exercise choice in religious belief was a principle enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution 12 years later. 6. The Stars and Stripes stands for all Americans, but it contains symbols only for the 50 states. Territories of the United States are not represented in either the stars or the stripes of the national banner, although most states started out as territories. Currently the United States has six possessions: the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Marianas, and American Samoa. Their total population, well over four million people, has U.S. citizenship and the protection of the Stars and Stripes. 7. Francis Hopkinson was the designer of the original Stars and Stripes. Hopkinson, a Revolutionary War judge, poet, and member of Congress, made a contemporary claim for his design work. Years later, however, others came up with distinctive versions of the Stars and Stripes that have been associated with their names. Navy Captain Samuel Reid, flag-maker Digby Chandler, Samuel F. B. Morse (inventor of the telegraph), and lecturer Wayne Whipple are among others who claimed to have "designed the American flag." 8. Just about every American knows the name Betsy Ross, widely regarded as the "maker" of the first American flag. Unfortunately, most of what they "know" about her is misleading. Betsy herself made no known claims concerning the first Stars and Stripes. Century-later assertions by her family that she sewed the very first flag at the request of George Washington are unsubstantiated. It is only known for certain that she made some ships' colors for the Pennsylvania Navy in 1776 before becoming a general flag-maker. 9. A real flag "maker" of the American Revolution was Rebecca Young of Philadelphia and later of Baltimore. She was the sister of Colonel Benjamin Flower, George Washington's Commissary General. Rebecca made many military and national colors for the Continental Army and George Washington. 10. Rebecca Young was the mother of Mary Pickersgill who made the Star-Spangled Banner for Fort McHenry in the War of 1812. At the time, Rebecca Young was living with her daughter in Baltimore; it is believed she assisted her daughter in the construction of what is referred to today as "America's Flag - The Star-Spangled Banner," made famous by Francis Scott Key in the song that became our national anthem. 11. All of the children of Rebecca Young were accomplished flag makers who received many government contracts for flags up through the early 1820s; this included her son, who actually competed with his mother in advertisements at the time. It is thought he may have made some of the flags for the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804 that were used as gifts to various Indian tribes. 12. The American flag has changed more often than any other national flag. Although its red and white stripes and its blue field with white stars have been familiar to Americans for 225 years, some of the details of the flag have been changed. From 1795 to 1818, for example, there were 15 stripes instead of 13. Various arrangements of stars appeared before they were standardized in parallel rows in 1912. The simple addition of a new star for each new state has meant that the Stars and Stripes has had 27 different versions. Afghanistan is the "most-flags runner-up," having had 18 national banners in its history. 13. The number of stars in the American flag has decreased as well as increased. Unofficially, many individuals and groups have reduced the number of stars for specific symbolic reasons. In the 19th century, for example, Abolitionists and Suffragettes flew versions of Old Glory with only as many stars as there were Free States or states giving women the right to vote. Other flags were made with too few stars through carelessness or to simplify making the flag, especially as the number of states increased. "Abbreviated flags" with too few stars and stripes, which today often appear in graphic designs, are still recognizably American. 14. The U.S. National Colors were first carried into land battle (with the exception of the Navy) in the Mexican-American War (1846) and last carried into land battle during the Philippine Insurrection (1901). Prior, during and after this period, designating flags (for units), militia, states and regimental flags/colors were used on the field of battle. 15. From the first time a ship ventured out of its home waters, flags became a necessity at sea. Wherever men have sailed on the oceans, their flags have indicated their nationality and allegiance, and the ship without a flag has justly been recognized in international law as a pirate. 16. Thirteen Star U.S. flags were manufactured and officially used until 1912. They were used by the U.S. government and other groups and individuals, but primarily by the Navy. The fewer the stars the easier it was to recognize the national flag from a distance at sea. 17. In the past, famous flags often were cut to pieces. Strange as it seems today, some of the most important flags in history lost much of their fabric to souvenir hunters. Veterans, family members, historians, and the general public often wrote to the owners of battle flags (such as the Star-Spangled Banner) for pieces. The owners would oblige by cutting out pieces of material, large or small, which were then cherished as mementos of the events the flag had been associated with. At the time, this practice was not considered flag desecration. 18. "The blue canton symbolizes the union. The 50 stars stand for the 50 states. The 13 stripes represent the 13 colonies which formed the independent nation (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania). The blue symbolizes loyalty, devotion, friendship, justice and truth; the red stands for courage, zeal and fervency; and the white represents purity and rectitude of conduct." (Alfred Znamierowski, The World Encyclopedia of Flags, 2002.) 19. The United States has no "keeper of the flag." Important as the Stars and Stripes is to America, no one government official or agency is responsible for regulating the usage, design, and other aspects of the flag. Congress has passed a number of flag laws and various presidents have issued Executive Orders on the subject. The flag itself, however, belongs to all of the American people, to use as they see fit. 20. Amazingly, there is no museum in the United States dedicated exclusively to flags. A number of museums have some flags in their archives and there are some outdoor displays of flag replicas. The Smithsonian Institution's original Star-Spangled Banner, which inspired our national anthem, is spectacular -- but it represents only one moment in the nation's three-century-plus flag history. An imaginative Flag Interpretive Center could present hundreds of impressive and significant original banners to delight patriots, scholars, students, and casual visitors alike. To create such a museum would require a commitment of the people. ©2002 Whitney Smith & Ben Zaricor. Compiled with the assistance of the world's leading vexillologist, Dr. Whitney Smith of the Flag Research Center, Winchester, Massachusetts. Dr. Smith is the co-author (with Howard Michael Madaus) of the book entitled "The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict." Many of the flags and artifacts featured in the book and the film, "The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict," are from the Zaricor Flag Collection.