| Date |
|
Event |
| 1776 |
: |
January 1
- The Grand Union flag is displayed on Prospect Hill. It has 13
alternate red and white stripes and the British Union Jack in the
upper left-hand corner (the canton). |
| 1776 |
: |
May -
Betsy Ross reports that she sewed the first American flag. |
| 1777 |
: |
June 14 -
Continental Congress passed an Act to establish an official flag
for the new nation: 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. (stars represent Delaware,
Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut,
Massachusetts, Maryland,
South Carolina, New
Hampshire, Virginia, New
York, North Carolina,
and Rhode Island) |
| 1787 |
: |
Captain
Robert Gray carries the flag around the world on his sailing
vessel (around the tip of South America, to China, and beyond). He
discovered the Columbia river and named it after his boat The
Columbia. His discovery was the basis of America's claim to the
Oregon Territory. |
| 1795 |
: |
Flag with
15 stars and 15 stripes (Vermont,
Kentucky) |
| 1814 |
: |
September
14 - Francis Scott Key writes "The
Star-Spangled Banner." |
| 1818 |
: |
Flag with
20 stars and 13 stripes (it remains at 13 hereafter) (Tennessee,
Ohio, Louisiana,
Indiana, Mississippi)
Act of April 4, 1818 - provided for 13 stripes and one star for
each state, to be added to the flag on the 4th of July following
the admission of each new state. |
| 1819 |
: |
Flag with
21 stars (Illinois) |
| 1820 |
: |
Flag with
23 stars (Alabama, Maine)
first flag on Pikes Peak |
| 1822 |
: |
Flag with
24 stars (Missouri) |
| 1836 |
: |
Flag with
25 stars (Arkansas) |
| 1837 |
: |
Flag with
26 stars (Michigan) |
| 1845 |
: |
Flag with
27 stars (Florida) |
| 1846 |
: |
Flag with
28 stars (Texas) |
| 1847 |
: |
Flag with
29 stars (Iowa) |
| 1848 |
: |
Flag with
30 stars (Wisconsin) |
| 1851 |
: |
Flag with
31 stars (California) |
| 1858 |
: |
Flag with
32 stars (Minnesota) |
| 1859 |
: |
Flag with
33 stars (Oregon) |
| 1861 |
: |
Flag with
34 stars; (Kansas) first
Confederate Flag (Stars and Bars) adopted in Montgomery, Alabama |
| 1863 |
: |
Flag with
35 stars (West Virginia) |
| 1865 |
: |
Flag with
36 stars (Nevada) |
| 1867 |
: |
Flag with
37 stars (Nebraska) |
| 1869 |
: |
First flag
on a postage stamp |
| 1877 |
: |
Flag with
38 stars (Colorado) |
| 1890 |
: |
Flag with
43 stars (North Dakota, South
Dakota, Montana, Washington,
Idaho) |
| 1891 |
: |
Flag with
44 stars (Wyoming) |
| 1892 |
: |
"Pledge
of Allegiance" first published in a magazine called "The
Youth's Companion." Authorship was claimed for James B. Upham
and Francis Bellamy. In 1939 the United States Flag Association
ruled that Bellamy was the author of the original pledge. |
| 1896 |
: |
Flag with
45 stars (Utah) |
| 1908 |
: |
Flag with
46 stars (Oklahoma) |
| 1909 |
: |
Robert
Peary places the flag his wife sewed atop the North Pole. He left
pieces of another flag along the way. |
| 1912 |
: |
Flag with
48 stars (New Mexico, Arizona)
Executive Order of President Taft dated June 24, 1912 -
established proportions of the flag and provided for arrangement
of the stars in six horizontal rows of eight each, a single point
of each star to be upward. |
| 1931 |
: |
Congress
officially recognizes `The Star-Spangled Banner' as the national
anthem of the United States . Its stirring words were written by
Francis Scott Key. |
| 1945 |
: |
The flag
that flew over Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, is flown over the
White House on August 14, when the Japanese accepted surrender
terms. |
| 1949 |
: |
August 3 -
President Truman signs bill requesting the President call for Flag
Day (June 14) observance each year by proclamation. |
| 1954 |
: |
June 14 -
The words, "under God" were added to the Pledge of
Allegiance. |
| 1959 |
: |
Flag with
49 stars (Alaska) Executive
Order of President Eisenhower dated January 3, 1959 - provided for
the arrangement of the stars in seven rows of seven stars each,
staggered horizontally and vertically. Executive Order of
President Eisenhower dated August 21, 1959 - provided for the
arrangement of the stars in nine rows of stars staggered horizon
tally and eleven rows of stars staggered vertically. |
| 1960 |
: |
Flag with
50 stars (Hawaii) |
| 1963 |
: |
Flag
placed on top of Mount Everest by Barry Bishop. |
| 1969 |
: |
July 20 -
The American flag is placed on the moon by Neil Armstrong. |
| 1995 |
: |
December
12 - The Flag Desecration Constitutional Amendment is narrowly
defeated in the Senate. The Amendment to the Constitution would
make burning the flag a punishable crime. |
| Current |
: |
The
National Museum of American History has undertaken a long-term
conservation project of the enormous 1814 garrison flag that
survived the 25-hour shelling of Ft. McHenry in Baltimore by
British troops. This flag inspired Francis Scott Key to compose
"The Star-Spangled Banner." The flag had become soiled
and weakened over time and was removed from the Museum in December
1998. Conservation efforts began in June 1999, starting with the
removal of the linen support backing that was sewn into place in
1914 using 1.7 million stitches. Painstaking steps must be taken
to preserve the flag, including pH readings to measure the levels
of acid or base in the fabric, color readings to analyze dyes in
the fabric and fiber analysis through microscopic examination. A
thorough vacuuming of all surfaces and large-format photographing
of every section of the flag to benchmark its condition must also
occur before conservation measures are undertaken. |
