1777
The Stars and Stripes flies
The American flag is flown in battle for the first time, during
a Revolutionary War skirmish at Cooch’s Bridge, Maryland. Patriot General
William Maxwell ordered the stars and strips banner raised as a detachment of
his infantry and cavalry met an advance guard of British and Hessian troops.
The rebels were defeated and forced to retreat to General George Washington’s
main force near Brandywine Creek in Pennsylvania.
Three months before, on June 14, the Continental Congress
adopted a resolution stating that “the flag of the United States be thirteen
alternate stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white
in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” The national flag, which
became known as the “Stars and Stripes,” was based on the “Grand Union” flag, a
banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 that also consisted of 13 red
and white stripes. According to legend, Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross
designed the new canton for the Stars and Stripes, which consisted of a circle
of 13 stars and a blue background, at the request of General George Washington.
Historians have been unable to conclusively prove or disprove this legend.
With the entrance of new states into the United States after
independence, new stripes and stars were added to represent new additions to
the Union. In 1818, however, Congress enacted a law stipulating that the 13
original stripes be restored and that only stars be added to represent new
states.
On June 14, 1877, the first Flag Day observance was held on the
100th anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes. As instructed by
Congress, the U.S. flag was flown from all public buildings across the country.
In the years after the first Flag Day, several states continued to observe the
anniversary, and in 1949 Congress officially designated June 14 as Flag Day, a
national day of observance.