THE STORY OF OLD GLORY

America’s First Flag Idea
The Grand Union Flag, also known as the Continental Colors, was the first flag flown on the first flagship of the Continental Navy, the Alfred, in Philadelphia, on December 2, 1775, by Lieutenant John Paul Jones. Letters written to Congress verify this event.
It had thirteen stripes alternating red and white stripes, but it had the British flag where the blue rectangle and stars are on the official U.S. flag.
The Grand Union flag was used by the American Continental forces as both a Naval Ensign and Garrison Flag through 1776 and early 1777. It served as the flag of the Revolution until it was replaced in a Declaration of Continental Congress on June 14, 1777.

A Proposed Re-Design
Some historians have attributed the first design of the American flag to Francis Hopkinson, a New Jersey delegate to the Continental Congress, and another signer of the Declaration of Independence. Historical documents show that Hopkinson played a role in designing seals for various departments within the U.S. government. Hopkinson sought payment from the Board of Admiralty for his design of the “flag of the United States of America” in 1780. His petition for payment was denied by Congress because “he was not the only one consulted” on the design.
On June 14, 1777, the Marine Committee of the Second Continental Congress at Philadelphia
"Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field representing a new constellation."
At that time, Francis Hopkinson was the Chairman of the Continental Navy Board’s Middle Department. He had helped design the Great Seal of the United States. There are a series of letters and bills he submitted to various government agencies requesting payment for designing the flag. However, he was never paid for designing the United States flag. That is due to his political enemies blocking attempts to have him paid for his services.
His design resembles the seal and his sketch that showed asterisks, and both were designed with six points on the stars, in a staggered pattern known as quincuncial, based on the repetitive motif of five units. In a flag of thirteen stars, for thirteen colonies at the time, this placement produced the unmistakable outline of the crosses of St. George and of St. Andrew, as used together on the British flag. This likely explains why other designs were preferred by many Americans.
This flag was carried in a battle at Brandywine, Pennsylvania, in September 1777. It flew over foreign territory in early 1778, at Nassau, Bahama Islands, where Americans took over a fort from the British.

An Agreement Was Made
Nearly a century after Betsy Ross passed away, in 1870, Betsy’s grandson, William Canby said that his grandmother had told him about a visit she had received in late May or early June of 1776.
Colonel George Ross, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and Betsy’s Uncle through marriage, along with General (at the time, and future President of the United States of America), George Washington, and Robert Morris, a financier of the Revolutionary War, presented her with a sketch of a proposed flag. The design included 13 red and white stripes and 13 stars with six points each. They wanted to know if she could sew something similar.
Colonel George Ross might have recommended her for the job, but George Washington and Robert Morris worshipped at the same church Betsy did, making them likely acquaintances, and Betsy was well-known for sewing flags. One receipt addressed to Betsy dated May 29, 1777, details work on a “ship’s colours” for the Pennsylvania State Navy Board, for a price tag of more than 14 pounds.
Before agreeing to the project, she suggested reducing the star points from six to five because that was easier to sew and arranging them in a circle. Satisfied with the changes, they commissioned her to begin the work. The next year, Congress voted to adopt this symbol as the first American flag, on June 14, 1777.
Betsy Ross never claimed any glory for her contribution to the flag design during her lifetime.

No Controversy Here
It seems clear that the red and white stripes were already on the original first flag design and the blue rectangle with stars idea was Hopkinson’s. Then, Betsy redesigned the stars to have five points and be in a circle instead of the controversial pattern.
Hopkinson didn’t get paid for something that many people had worked on over a period of almost 80 years with many disagreements about the design of the official flag of the United States of America.

The Star-Spangled Banner
A flag with 15 stars and 15 stripes that included Vermont and Kentucky was called the Star-Spangled Banner or the Great Garrison Flag. This flag design became the official United States flag on May 1, 1795 and remained so for twenty-three years until 1818. It flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor during the Naval portion of the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. Seeing the flag during the battle inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem “Defence of Fort McHenry,” which was retitled with the flag’s name for the closing lines of the first stanza and set to the tune “To Anacreon in Heaven” that later became the national anthem of the United States.

Meaning Behind the Design
The number of stripes signifies the colonies of the time. Red historically represented the British while the white stripes represented liberty cutting through the red as a political statement against Great Britain’s rule over the colonies.
• White signifies purity and innocence
• Red signifies valor and bravery
• Blue signifies vigilance, perseverance, and justice
The stars are considered a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial with the stripes being symbolic of rays of light emanating from the sun. The canton contains a blue rectangle, referred to specifically as “the union.”

The Official National Flag of the United States of America
The fifty-star flag was adopted and flown for the first time ever at Fort McHenry, on the Fourth of July 1960. It is the longest to serve as the National Colors of the United States of America.

Patriotism and the Flag
To many Americans the flag is a symbol of patriotism because it was a fight for freedom and soldiers lost their lives defending this country from being ruled by another across the ocean. The flag has been a signal of accomplishment in many ways, including that there is a U.S. flag on the moon!
The U.S. flag has been burned and beaten by the weather, it has been raised up and pulled down, and flown at half-mast when people have died, but the flag still flies high as a sign of hope, strength, and resilience, as Old Glory, the Star-Spangled Banner, with fireworks declaring war on oppression of all types, on Independence Day.
Today, let’s look to the skies viewing the fireworks and seeing the flag as just what they were created for, a composition to honor all we have already overcome and all we CAN achieve, when we team up because we are Americans in a united nations.

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Adapted from data found on these links:
RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT! — APRIL 23, 2020
Chapter Flags (gissar.org)
MeaningofUSflag.pdf (blackdragonmartialartsclub.com)