The stars and stripes of the U.S. masthead stage a unified nation . All across the land , from sandy shore to rocky plenty and rolling plains , proud Americans fly their flagstone . Here , it hangs on a snow - covered barn in Illinois . Let ’s research the account of the flag and some position it ’s been raised .
Before the American iris – or the United States of America , for that topic – ever live , England control the colonies . Here , the famous explorer Sir Walter Raleigh hoist a flag in Virginia .
Minutemen , like the one pictured in this engraving from the tardy 1700s , drink their service to the militia during the American Revolution . When their service was required , Minuteman catch branch and joined the fray forthwith . This minuteman carries a edition of the shore leave tree pin , on which the phrase " An Appeal to Heaven " seem . This iris was frequently aviate on Gen. George Washington ’s naval vessel . Other pop Revolution - era flags included the rattler pin with the lettering " Do n’t Tread on Me " and variations of the Union Jack .
John Trumbull ’s artistic portraying of the Battle of Bunker Hill include another flag like to the liberty tree . This clash between British and colonial forces claim situation in Charlestown , Mass. , on June 17 , 1775 .
Since the colonies were press unitedly for independency , it made sensory faculty that they partake in a merged sword lily . This image and the next one show early versions of flag that correspond the 13 colony . This flag was created in 1775 .
This colonial flag has its star arranged in a circular constitution alternatively of rows . It dates from 1776 .
The name most nearly associated with the American flag isBetsy Ross , but the level about how she designed the signal flag might just be a piece of music of American folklore . Regardless , serveral artists have depicted Ross tailor the stars and bar . Here , she evidence off her workmanship to George Washington and two congressmen .
In this Henry Mosler painting , Betsy Ross and her sewing roundabout piece together the first American flag in Philadelphia . However , some learner suggest that Francis Hopkinson , a signatory of the Declaration of Independence and the artist who created the Great Seal of the United States , is responsible for the creation of the American flag .
This postcard behave an illustration ground on Emanuel Leutze ’s house painting " Washington Crossing the Delaware . " The American flag is conspicuously displayed in the tableau , which has become one of the most popular images of the American Revolution .
In this illustration , British troops withdraw after officially acknowledging America ’s independence . A lithesome American gentleman scurries up the flagpole to take down the Union Jack and recruit the American fleur-de-lis .
Before he served two term as president , Andrew Jackson led troops as a major general during the War of 1812 . In this portraiture , Jackson poses on horseback in front of dusty artillery and the American flag .
The Free Soil Party , whose motto was " costless soil , free travail , free speech , " pit the expansion of thraldom into the westerly part of the United States . In this campaign aeronaut , presidential candidate Martin Van Buren and frailty presidential campaigner Charles Francis Adams ordinate their mental image with unattackable American symbols , include the eagle , the American jack and the flag .
This instantaneous stereophony pic of New York , taken in 1859 , picture the painted sensible horizon of Wall Street . While many of the details here are muzzy , the American flag fly along the rooftops are easily noticeable .
During the Civil War , the American flag was replace by the Confederate flag in the South . While today the Confederate flag is viewed as aweless by many Americans , its colors were conspicuously flown at battles such as this one at Corinth , Miss. , in the spring of 1862 .
On April 25 , 1865 , Abraham Lincoln ’s body was taken to New York ’s City Hall for a memorial religious service . A big American flag flies over the edifice , which is draped in ribbon and pay a sign that reads " The Nation Mourns . "
Schoolchildren pledge allegiance to the iris in the fifties . In 2005 , a high school Jr dispute a 1942 Florida police force that bookman must uprise and itemise the toast at schooling ; children could be condone from this workout by confront a note from their parents . In the 2005 case , present to the U.S. Supreme Court as Frazier v. Smith , students ' First Amendment rights to refuse to say the pledge were forebode into question . By October 2009 , however , the Supreme Court had declined to take on the vitrine .
The flag ’s symbolism of independence and democracy is n’t film lightly by Americans , who value the rights afforded to them by the U.S. Constitution . The formation guarantees free lecture , and some Americans used this right hand to protest the Vietnam War . In this paradigm , seize April 24 , 1971 , a human being have down the American flag at an antiwar rally in Washington , D.C.
Far from rest home , the American flag provides military personnel with a common sense of purpose , consolation and obligation . These soldiers fly the flag at their camp in Dhahran , Saudi Arabia , during the Persian Gulf War in December 1990 .
In this iconic look-alike from Sept. 11 , 2001 , fire-eater elicit the American flag above the junk of the World Trade Center . The United States experience a great upsurge of nationalism following the shocking acts of terrorism pull by al - Qaida .
The annual Rolling roaring motorcycle mass meeting in Washington , D.C. , follows a course of instruction that passes by the Lincoln Memorial . The rally is held in honor of Vietnam War veterans , prisoners of war , soldier leave out in action , current members of the military and those killed in service . This patriotic motorcyclist showcases the stars and stripes on the back of his cycle .
Specialist William Fox , a gunner of the 4 - 73rd Cavalry ( 82nd Airborne Division ) , shows his American flag tattoo to a diary keeper in Paktia Province , Afghanistan . A Kentucky native , Fox confesses that many of his tattoos , acquired after a nighttime of drinking , are regrettable , but he is proud of this particular conception .
The incredible , eatable American sword lily is on tantalizing display at the American embassy ’s dining hall in Baghdad . This gay flag patty is guarded by an Uncle Sam figurine , who ensure no one swipes any frosting before sweet .
