Days to Display Your Flag All national and state holidays and on historic and special occasions. January 1 - New Year’s Day January 20 - Inauguration Day Third Monday in January - Martin Luther King’s Birthday February 12 - Lincoln’s Birthday February 22 - Washington’s Birthday April 6 - Army Day Easter 2nd Sunday in May - Mother’s day Memorial Day (half-staff until noon) June 14 - Flag Day July 4 - Independence Day 1st Monday in September - Labor Day September 17 - Citizenship Day October 12 - Columbus Day October 27 - Navy Day November 11 - Veteran’s Day 4th Thursday in November - Thanksgiving Day December 25 - Christmas Day Days proclaimed by the President Days of states’ admission to the Union Certain holidays will be celebrated on Mondays, or on the date traditionally recognized for that holiday, according to state option. If your state has not enacted the necessary legislation, the flag may be flown on both the Monday holiday and on the traditional date for the holiday. Courtesy of: Adrian Fontes Maricopa County Recorder Recorder’s/Elections Department 111 South 3rd Avenue Phoenix, Arizona 85003-2296 (602) 506-1511 • Fax (602) 506-3069 www.recorder.maricopa.gov The American Flag The Stars and Stripes The “Stars and Stripes”...popular name for the national flag of our United States, represents our country, its people, our government and our national ideals. For many years, it has also stood for liberty, justice, democracy and freedom. Hundreds of millions of people have lived in peace under the flag, but millions have also fought and died under the waving colors of “Old Glory” whenever tyranny and oppression have threatened the republic for which it stands. The Continental Congress chose red, white and blue as our national colors, although no record has ever been found to show why. In 1782, the Congress of the Confederation again chose red, white and blue for the seal of the United States and also for the national flag. The meaning for the colors: Red, for hardiness and courage; White, for purity and innocence; Blue, for vigi- lance, perseverance and justice. These colors have remained constant and unchanged throughout the history of our country. When pledging allegiance Our flag... to the flag, an individual should stand at atten- stands for generations of individuals who have never stopped tion with their hand believing in the principles of liberty, equality and justice. over their heart. If wearing a hat, it Our flag... should be removed 13 red & white stripes waving freely in the wind, proudly guarding a and placed over field of blue with 50 white stars is a symbol of deeply held beliefs that the left shoulder have kept our country strong and free. so that the hand is covering the heart. Our flag... Persons in military uniforms or scouts carries poignant memories of our Nation’s triumphant past, and bears in uniform should a powerful message of hope for the present and future of our Nation give the proper and world. salute as they pledge allegiance. Our flag... flies to bring the pledge of freedom and justice to all people. The proper etiquette for displaying and carrying the flag is given in the section on “Flag Etiquette.” Display your flag proudly. Displaying the flag is the privilege of every citizen of this country. 2 3 In later years, the President has usually proclaimed how the stars would be arranged and all flags must agree with the Presidential proclamation. New states were constantly being admitted to the Union and the United States had thirteen national flags between 1817 and 1861. During the Civil War, we had another two flags with the admission of Kansas and West Virginia. Union troops fought under a 33-star flag during the first three months of the war; a 34-star flag until 1863; and a 35-star flag until the end of the war. President Lincoln refused to take out the stars of the southern states which had seceded. After the war had ended, the nation began to move west. Nebraska joined the Union in 1867; followed in 1877 by Colorado; 1890 by North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington and Idaho; 1891 by Wyoming; 1896 by Utah; and 1908 by Oklahoma. During this period of transition in the country, we had six more national The History of the Stars and Stripes flags. The twenty-third flag, adopted in 1896, was the flag that we fought under during the Spanish-American War in 1898. In 1912, Arizona and New Mexico were admitted to the Union and thus the United On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed the following resolution: States needed another new flag. This was the twenty-fifth flag, adopted in 1912, and “Resolved, that the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes alternate red which lasted until 1959. The total of 47 years that this flag flew over the nation represents and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new the longest period of duration of any one flag of the United constellation.” On that historic day, the flag of the United States of America came into States. This flag was carried to the battlefields of World War existence and this form remains unchanged to the present day. I and World War II, as well as the Korean War. Just who designed the first flag or who made it is a question still debated by historians. In 1959, Alaska was admitted as the 49th state of the Some believe that Betsy Ross designed the first flag, although claims have also been Union. The 49-star flag, adopted in 1959, was raised at made that Francis Hopkinson, a Congressman, designed and made the first flag. 12:01 a.m. on July 4th, 1959, over Ft. McHenry to signal Historical records do show that Betsy Ross made flags for the government in 1777, but the official admittance of Alaska. whether she made the first United States flag will probably always remain in doubt. This flag lasted but a short while for on July 4th, In 1782, the Congress of the Confederation reaffirmed the choice of the Continental 1960, the United States raised the present 50-star Congress by stating that the national seal and the flag would remain red, white and flag signaling the admission of Hawaii as our blue. Deeper meaning was also given to the flag and its design. The thirteen original 50th and last state. To date, we have had states would always be represented by the seven red stripes and the six white ones. twenty-seven national flags, and they have However, they left open the question of how the stars on the blue union would be all flown in glory over this great nation, the arranged. United States. In 1777, Congress had not specified any particular design for the arrangement of the stars and some flags had thirteen stars in a circle. Others had twelve in a circle with the thirteenth in the center. By 1782 though, almost all the national flags had the thirteen stars in a circle. In 1794, Vermont and Kentucky were admitted to the Union bringing the number of states to fifteen. Congress ordered that all new flags would carry fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, and that a star and a stripe would be added as each new state joined the Union. This would later prove to be too cumbersome and would soon be abandoned. This flag, with its fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, is the flag Americans carried in the War of 1812. By 1817, The Union was expanded by five more states: Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana and Mississippi. This expansion meant a new flag. Samuel C. Reid, a navy captain, redesigned the flag using the original thirteen stripes and adding a star for each of the twenty states. This idea was proposed to Congress by Peter Wendover, a representative from New York. It was passed as the New Flag Act, and the date was set as July 4th next after a new state had been admitted to the Union as the day on which a new flag would be flown. Congress again left open the question of how the stars might be arranged, so the design was left to individual flagmakers. 4 5 27 Flags of the United States 3 1818 Our third ag saw a return to tradition as Congress decided to return to the thirteen stripes, but to add a star as each new state joined the Union. Designed by navy captain Samuel Reid, this ag was proposed to Congress on April 4, 1818, and changed back to thirteen stripes. This ag had 20 stars and became ocial July 4, 1818. This ag is also called the “Great Star Flag” because the 20 stars were sometimes arranged to form a star. 4 1819 The 21st star in the ag represented the admission of the state of Illinois on December 3, 1818. The Northwest Territory 11777-1795 was rapidly becoming settled and four new states would be The Betsy Ross Flag. To this day, the actual maker of this ag remains unknown. This almost carved out of this section of the country. 1818 was also the casually constructed national emblem incorporated the unchanging design of thirteen stripes year that the United States-Canada boundary dispute was with a thirteen-star union. Although this claim is seriously in doubt, Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia settled, making it the longest open border in the world. seamstress, is said to have made the rst American ag. This claim was rst made by William J.