Investigator- The American Flag

Slaughterhouse-Five, Chapter 8

Haajar Muhammad

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Context

• I decided to talk about the American Flag while I was reading chapter 8 and read on page 163: “Blue is for the American sky, white is for the race that pioneered the continent, drained the swamps and cleared the forests and built the roads and bridges. Red is for the blood of American patriots which was shed so gladly in the years gone by”

• So I was inspired by that paragraph to research the real history of the American flag

Symbolism

• The flag of the United States is one of the nation's most widely recognized symbols. Within the U.S. it is frequently displayed, not only on public buildings, but on private residences. It is also used as clothing ornaments such as badges and lapel pins. Throughout the world it is used in public discourse to refer to the U.S., both as a nation state, government, and set of policies, but also as an ideology and set of ideas.

• Apart from the numbers of stars and stripes representing the number of current and original states, respectively, and the union with its stars representing a constellation, there is no legally defined symbolism to the colors and shapes on the flag. However, folk theories and traditions abound; for example, that the stripes refer to rays of sunlight and that the stars refer to the heavens, the highest place that a person could aim to reach

• The flag of the United States consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the corner bearing fifty small, white five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows of five stars. The fifty stars on the flag represent the fifty U.S. states and the thirteen stripes represent the original thirteen colonies that rebelled against the British Crown and became the first states in the Union. Nicknames for the flag are the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, and The Star-Spangled Banner which is also the name of the national anthem.

History

The History of the Flag

• June 14, 1777, congress declares the flag should have thirteen white stars in a blue background and thirteen alternate red and white stripes. The red means hardiness and valor. White signifies purity and innocence. Blue is the color of the Chief. The star symbolizes heaven and the goal all man have been striving for. The stripe is a ray of light from the sun. The first thirteen states were, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.

• In the year 1795, two more states were added to the flag, Vermont and Kentucky, giving it fifteen stars and stripes at that time, the stars and stripes stood for the states

• The flag gets five more states added to its threads in 1818, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, and Mississippi. The congress changed the fifteen stripes to thirteen and it remains thirteen afterward. Another state represents a star on the flag in 1819, which was the state Illinois. The flag has 23 stars in the year 1820 with Alabama and Maine included.

• In 1822, Missouri became a state and let the flag have 24 stars. Afterwards the flag took in Arkansas in 1836, then Michigan in 1837. Eight years later Florida gives the flag 27 stars in 1845. Texas joins in on 1846, then comes Iowa in 1847, finally Wisconsin in 1848. That's still not it there are only 30 stars on the flag b now we still need 20 stars to go. The flag takes California as a star in 1851 and Minnesota in 1858, about seven years apart. Oregon looks as good as any star on the flag in 1859 when it was declared a state.

Current Flag

• As the years went on more and more states where added to the country as well as the flag.

• On July 4th 1960 the last star was added to the flag, giving it its 50 stars.

US Flag with 51 stars. To be used if a 51st state is added to the United States.

Work cited

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_States

2. http://www.kyrene.org/schools/brisas/sunda/flag/history/page1.htm

3. http://blog.mpl.org/nowatmpl/american-flag-2a.jpg