Flag of the United States

Flag of the United States of America
Ratio: 10:19; Nicknames: Stars and Stripes, Old Glory

The flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed starss arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars. The 50 stars represent the 50 states and the 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies.

It is commonly called the "Stars and Stripes" and less commonly "Old Glory." Because the name "Old Glory" technically refers to the 48-star version used from 1912 to 1959, this usage connotes the history of the flag. The flag has gone through many changes since 13 of the English colonies in North America first adopted it.

Table of contents

1 History
2 Symbolism
3 Influences on other flags
4 See also
5 External links

History

On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution which stated: "Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation." Describing the new flag, the Congress wrote, "White signifies Purity and Innocence; Red, Hardiness and Valor; Blue signifies Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice." Flag Day is now observed on June 14 of each year.

As further states entered the union, extra stars have appeared, but the number of stripes has remained at the original thirteen. The exception was the 15-star flag, which also had 15 stripes. It was the 15-star flag which inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner," now the national anthem.

When the flag design changes, the change always takes place on July 4 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a consequence of the Flag Act of April 4, 1818. July 4, the United States Independence Day, commemorates the founding of the nation. The most recent change, from forty-nine stars to fifty, occurred in 1960, after Hawaii gained statehood. Before that, the admission of Alaska the year before prompted the debut of a short-lived 49-star flag.

The flag flew in battle for the first time, at Cooch's Bridge in Maryland on September 3, 1777 during the American Revolutionary War.

The British historian Sir Charles Fawcett has suggested that the design of the flag may have been derived from the flag and jack of the British East India Company.

Symbolism

To U.S. citizens, their flag symbolizes many things. They have seen it as representing all of the freedoms and rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights. Perhaps most of all they see it as a symbol of individual and personal liberty like those put forth in the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

The approved method of destroying old and tattered flags consists of burning them in a simple ceremony. Burning the flag has also been used to as a deliberate act of disrespect, at times to protest actions by the United States government. Some groups concerned by these actions have proposed a Flag Burning Amendment that would outlaw burning the flag in disrespect or protest.

Influences on other flags

The design and colors of the American "Stars and Stripes" have been the basis for a number of other flags, both past and present, some of which appear below:

Note especially the echoes in the colors and designs of several of the Flags of the Confederate States of America.

External links

In the News

Discovery In 'Bubble Boy' Disease Gene Therapy
Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have developed a mouse model of a severe disease of the immune system that helps explain why gene therapy used to treat children with this disease at an institution in Europe caused some of them to develop leukemia.

Protein That Regulates Aging May Provide Key To New Diabetes Therapies
Opening the possibility of new therapies for type 2 diabetes, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a protein called Sirt1 enhances the secretion of insulin in mice and allows them to better control blood glucose levels.

Lack Of VEGF Can Cause Defects Similar To Dry Macular Degeneration
Scientists have found that when the eye is missing a diffusible form of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), i.e. one that when secreted can reach other cells at a distance, the retina shows defects similar to "dry" macular degeneration.

Monthly Reading Activities: A Month of Reading With the NEA
Collection of ideas for monthly reading activities for children. Includes ideas for Newbery and Caldecott Awards for January, Black History Month in February, National Poetry Month in April, Christopher Robin's birthday in August, National Book Month in October, and the winter solstice in December. Also includes short lists of author birthdays and links to reading lists. From the National Education Association (NEA).

Corporate Equity Index
"The Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index report, released each fall, provides an in-depth analysis and rating of large U.S. employers and their policies and practices pertinent to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors."Includes evaluation of issues such as diversity training, domestic partner benefits, and respectful advertising. Includes reports back to 2002.�From the Human Rights Campaign.

Earworms burrow into your brain
I just can’t get you outta my head…is the usual thought when an irritatingly catchy pop song gets stuck on loop in your brain for days on end. A start-up company in East Anglia reasoned that this catchiness might be put to good use in helping people quickly learn a foreign language. Or, at the [...]

Livedoor Exec: 'I Was Framed'
Dot-com mogul Takafumi Horie says it was his flamboyant ways, not any shady business practices, that irked prosecutors. By the Associated Press.

Researchers Discover New Information On Spreading Of Cancer
Researchers have discovered a mechanism lung cancer cells use when spreading into the body to form metastases. They have also found a factor controlling the spreading of several different cancer types. The common feature in both findings is that they explain the lethal ability of cancer cells to “start running” and spread from the original tumor to other parts of the body.

'Know Thyself' -- Easier Said Than Done
In "Flawed Self-Evaluation: Implications for Health, Education, and the Workplace,"investigators David Dunning (Cornell), Chip Heath (Stanford), and Jerry M. Suls (University of Iowa) summarized current psychological research on the accuracy (or rather inaccuracy) of self-knowledge, across a wide range of studies in a range of spheres. Their report is published in the recent issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a journal of the American Psychological Society.

Inflammatory mediator regulates diarrhea in inflammatory bowel disease
Researchers have discovered that activation of NF-kappaB, an inflammatory mediator, results in diarrhea in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

MP3 Music Downloads

Preview songs, Download Free Music,Burn CDs at ITunes.com