Interesting Facts About American Flag Colors For Kids

'Old Glory' and 'Stars and Stripes' are two of the most famous nicknames of the flag of the United States of America.

The United States flag was adopted as the official flag of the nation on 14 June, 1777 when the Continental Congress passed an act establishing it as the national flag of the US. At the time of establishment, the US flag had 13 horizontal stripes alternating between red and white along with 13 stars in the union.

In 1960, various changes were made to the design and arrangement of the US flag which also saw many stars being added to the flag. As of today, as mentioned by the US Department of State, the official colors of the flag are 'Old Glory Red', 'Old Glory Blue' and 'White'. The significance of the three colors was not clear when the flag was adopted in 1777, but later on, the then Secretary of the Continental Congress, Charles Thomson mentioned what the stripes represented. The red color represents courage, hardiness, valor, and readiness to sacrifice. The blue color represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice, whereas, the white color represents the purity and innocence of the country. The flag colors of red, white, and blue are believed to have been referred from the colors of the Union Jack of England. The current version of the flag is a little over 60 years old.

If you enjoyed this article, why not also read about fun facts about Mexico and facts about Hawaii here on Kidadl?

Red, White, And Blue: American Flag Symbolism

The stars and stripes on the flag of the United States represent the colonies and the states of the Union. The 13 alternating red and white bands on the American flag represent the original 13 colonies, whereas, the 50 stars represent the 50 states of the US.

The American flag has had 26 different versions since it became the flag early in 1777, the 50-star version of the flag was adopted on 4 July, 1960 with the addition of Hawaii. The values and the meaning that the red and white stripes depict have stayed the same. The red color stripe is the symbolism of valor and bravery, the white color stripe depicts purity and innocence, and the blue indicates vigilance, justice, and perseverance.

The History Of The American Flag

The American flag was officially adopted on 14 June, 1777, a year after Congress declared independence from Great Britain on 4 July, 1776. The general consensus among scholars today is that the first-ever American flag was designed by Francis Hopkinson, however, there are also those who think it was designed by Betty Ross.

Betty Ross was an upholsterer whose work was to make flags for the Pennsylvania Navy. Some reports claim that she had met with George Washington and had designed the American flag but there is no official documentation supporting this. On the other hand, some links claim that the flag was designed by Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence hailing from New Jersey. Today, historians tend to value the evidence that Hopkinson designed this flag over the Betty Ross suggestion.

Displaying The Stars And Stripes

There are a few key rules to keep in mind while displaying the stars and stripes flag. It is important that when the US flag hangs from the wall, it is to the observer's left and on the speaker's right. Also, the stars and stripes flag should be higher or at the same height as the other present flags.

Did you know that the red, blue, and white colors are all cloth color standards produced by the Color Association of the United States due to which you can never perfectly convert it into RGB and CMYK? Pantone Matching System's approximations of colors are used at times. There are specific codes and alphanumeric combinations used to produce the exact color of the flag from a digital system. The name of the red color is PMS 193C and its code is #bb133e, the white color's code is #ffffff; the blue color is PMS 282c, and its code is #002147.

Star-Spangled Banner

'The Star-Spangled Banner' is the name of the National Anthem of the United States and also a name of one of the versions of the US flag.

This was the name of the flag after the second Flag Act when it had 15 stars and 15 stripes, this flag was flown over Fort McHenry. It was here that poet Francis Scott Key was a witness of the bombardment of the fort and was inspired to write the country's National Anthem.

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