Fun With Flags #14 - Flag of the U.S.A.

Hey everyone, welcome back to another video. Happy 4th of July to all viewers from the USA

Since today is the US's day of independence, I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn

a little about the American flag, its history, evolution, and meaning. Almost everyone in the

world probably knows the American flag. The red stripes, blue canton, and white stars are

recognizable everywhere since the dawn of the US as an independent country

However, the current flag is the 27th version of the US flag, so let's take a look at all

of these changes, what they were and why they took place. It is said that the first de facto US flag was this one, the Grand Union Flag

According to some, this flag preceded the first flag with stars and was created by the

Continental Navy during the American War for Independence. They are said to have simply taken

the red ensign of the British and added white stripes to distinguish themselves. This flag was

very similar, if not completely identical, to the flag of the East India Trading Company

part of the British Empire as well. The similarity might be coincidental, but maybe they just had one

of those flags and noticed that the 13 stripes could represent the 13 colonies which were

rising up against the British and decided to go with it. This flag was in use until 1777, serving as the basis for the actual American flag designs

as an independent nation. On June 14 of 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the flag resolution, creating

the first official US flag, a day that is still celebrated as Flag Day in the United

States. 13 stripes alternating between white and red and 13 stars to represent the 13 colonies

which rebelled against the British, forming the first states and creating the United States

of America. It is said that this flag was merely created to identify American ships at sea, then transitioning

into the official standard for the country on land as well. This flag resolution did not specify any particular arrangement, number of points, nor orientation

for the stars and the arrangement of whether the flag had to be 7 white stripes and 6 white

ones or vice versa was also not established. The appearance was up to the maker of the flag, giving origin to other variants like

the well-known Betsy Ross flag where the stars are in a circle or even some where the stripes

were blue instead of red. In fact, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, in a letter dated

October 3rd of 1778 to Ferdinand I of the two Sicilies even described the American flag as consisting of 13 stripes alternately red white and blue In 1795 the number of stars and stripes was increased from 13 to 15 to reflect the entry of

Vermont and Kentucky as states. For a while, however, the additional states weren't added as

stars or stripes to the flag, some say to avoid clutter with the constant addition of new states

On April 4th of 1818, a law was passed by Congress at the suggestion of US Naval Captain Samuel Reed, in which the flag was changed to have 20 stars with a new star to be added in the future when each new state was admitted, but the number of stripes would be reduced to 13 so as to honor the original colonies

Which made sense because let's face it, having 50 stripes on the flag wouldn't exactly be very easy

This new flag became official on the 4th of July of 1818

So, throughout time with the addition of new states to the Union, the number of stars increased

However, prior to the adoption of the 48-star flag in 1912, there was no official arrangement of the stars in the canton

Although the US Army and the US Navy used standardized designs, throughout the 19th century there was an abundance of different star patterns, rectangular, circular and some even in a star shape

So with the addition of Arizona to the US in 1912, the disposition of the stars was made official

After that, the most recent changes happened in 1959 with Alaska and 1960 with Hawaii

Recently, with the possibility of Puerto Rico joining the US as an official state, something

they have already voted to do, the flag might be changing again, with the addition of one

more star, making a new total of 51. During the American Civil War, the Confederate States of America, the South, took up an alternate flag

But their first flag was very similar. It was a three-striped red, white and red flag with a blue canton with white stars

The stars began as 7 in 1861, changing to 9, 11 and 13 during that same year

But there was such a similarity that during the first battle of Bull Run in the American

Civil War, there was a lot of confusion between the flags of the two sides

Especially when it was hanging, it looked almost identical. So in 1863, the battle flag of the Confederate army was used as the national flag for the confederation

A red background with a blue salt tire on top of it, along with 13 stars

This confederate flag was also known as the stainless banner. In some cases it was displayed in the center of a white flag William Thompson the editor of a confederate newspaper claimed that the flag should be the white man flag thus justifying the use of the white with

his racist belief. In 1865, the flag of the confederacy changed to the bloodstained banner

a white flag with the stainless banner in its top left corner along with a red vertical

stripe on the right. The addition of the red stripe was supposed to distinguish the standard from the white

flag of truce. When the flag was hanging limp, the canton wasn't visible and so all that was visible

was the white, creating the possibility for some confusion. The addition of the red stripe and creation of this new flag was proposed by a man named

Arthur Rogers, who defended the flag saying that it had very little Yankee blue and two symbols of

the people which he considered as the origin of the people of the Confederacy, the Scottish saltire

and the red bar from the French flag. The Union, on the other hand, the Northern States, kept using

the Stars and Stripes flags. Being the victors of the Civil War, the Union succeeded in keeping the

US whole, having their flag fly over the territory until today, only suffering a few alterations

in the number of stars and their disposition. The only place where the Confederate flag remained in use until today is the current

state flag of Mississippi, which uses it in its top left corner

The US Civil War and War of Independence are very interesting events in history, so if

you want me to do a video on those, leave a comment below. So that is the American flag today, a 13-stripe flag, red and white, along with a blue canton

on which we can see 50 stars, one for each state. Despite popular belief, desecration of the flag, such as burning it or stepping on it

is not illegal. Although there have been a lot of attempts to legislate and ban this practice, desecration

of the flag remains protected as free speech. Some flags all across the world are very similar to the US flag, like the flag of Bikini Atoll

the flag of Liberia, Malaysia, El Salvador, or even Brittany in France

Inside the US itself, we have dozens of other flags. Being a federation, the US is made up of 50 states, each with its own flag

The majority of them are blue with the state seal, but there are some creative exceptions

like the flag of California, New Mexico, Ohio, Alabama, or Hawaii. Ohio is the only non-rectangular shaped flag in the U.S

and one of the few in the world. Hawaii's flag uses the British flag in its canton

to represent the friendship of the British to the whole Hawaiian kingdom

coming close to the first Grand Union flag of the U.S. California flag for instance came into use in 1846 raised by a group of American settlers in revolt against Mexican rule It imitated the Lone Star flag of Texas and represented a grizzly bear very common in

the area. I'm thinking of making a video explaining the flags of each US state, so let me know

if that's something you would be interested in watching. Other than the national flag and the state flags, another main American symbol is the

Great Seal of the United States. An American eagle holding in its claws an olive branch and a set of arrows

Above it are the original 13 stars and a motto e pluribus unum, meaning out of many, one

Some people say that the eagle faces the arrows when the country is at war and the olive branch

when it is at peace, but White House curator Bill Allman explained how this is untrue

Although the seal of the president has undergone various changes over the years, its design

is fixed by executive order and is not altered during wartime. The branch and the arrows are however said to represent the US's strong desire for peace

but constant readiness for war, respectively. The reverse of the seal is this one, a pyramid with the words Anuit Coeptis, meaning favor

are Undertakings and Novus Ordus Seclorum, a new order of the ages, with the number 1776

in Roman numerals, year of the US's independence. The pyramid and the eye are called the Eye of Providence and are said to represent the

eye of God watching over humanity. A lot of people say that the image is also related to Freemasonry, claiming that this

represents the influence of Freemasonry in the foundation of the United States

However, Masonic usage of the eye symbol only dates to 14 years after the creation of the

Grand Seal. Furthermore, out of all members of all design committees for the Grand Seal, only Benjamin

Franklin was a known Mason and his proposals were not the ones adopted

Both the front and the reverse of the seal are present in the back of the $1 bill

Ever since 1776 the Grand Seal has undergone a few changes and proposals but always keeping

some common elements like the 13 stars which were present in the first ever proposal as

well as the date of independence in roman numerals. Some proposals did however present new different ideas for the model, always in Latin, but

this first proposal, said to be the prototype for the Grand Seal already had the words E

Pluribus Uno. So, these are the current flag and seal of the United States of America

Thank you so much for watching. If you have any opinions or corrections, leave a comment below and subscribe if you want

to catch future videos. I will see you next time