The flag of the United States of America, which is also called "Star-Spangled Banner", "Old Glory" and Stars and Stripes", is one of the most widely recognized symbols. It consists of seven red and six white stripes. These stripes symbolize the Thirteen Colonies, namely Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Moreover, the flag consists of 50 white, five-pointed stars on a blue background, which represent the 50 states of the USA.
Each color has its own meaning. White symbolizes innocence and and purity, blue symbolizes vigilance, perserverance and justice and red symbolizes valor and hardiness.
The US have a specific United States Flag Code which establishes rules for display and care of the flag.
Some of those rules are:
The flag must not be printed on articles such as handkerchiefs, napkins or anything else that is thrown away after temporary use.
The flag must not touch anything beneath it and it must not be used as a covering for a ceiling.
When the flag is frayed, it has to be burnt in a respectful way.
When the fag is not used, it should be folded in a triangular shape.
When the flag is displayed, the blue field must always be in the upper left-hand corner, even if the flag is displayed vertical.
Some of those rules are:
The flag must not be printed on articles such as handkerchiefs, napkins or anything else that is thrown away after temporary use.
The flag must not touch anything beneath it and it must not be used as a covering for a ceiling.
When the flag is frayed, it has to be burnt in a respectful way.
When the fag is not used, it should be folded in a triangular shape.
When the flag is displayed, the blue field must always be in the upper left-hand corner, even if the flag is displayed vertical.
The flag is seen all year-round at public buildings (such as the White House in Washington D.C.) and at private homes sometimes too. However, the majority of US families fly the flag only on civic holidays like Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, President's Day, Flag Day and on Independence Day.
The flag has its origin in 1776. The first flag consisted of 13 stripes, representing the Thirteen Colonies, as well as the British Union Jack, in a square in the upper left-hand corner. In 1777 it was decided that the union should be represented by 13 white stars in a blue square. As the USA gained more and more territory, with every state that became part of the US a new star was added to the flag. In 1960, the last star (the one for Hawaii) was added to the flag and made the flag look like as we know it today.
Countries that had a close relation ship to the USA in the past, often have a flag similar to the flag of the USA. Examples are the flags of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Liberia and Chile.
No comments:
Post a Comment