The American flag was flown in battle for the first time, during a Revolutionary
War skirmish at Cooch’s Bridge, Delaware. 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.

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In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. … In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14
as Flag Day; on August 3, 1949, National Flag Day was established by an
Act of Congress. Flag Day is not an official federal holiday.

Thomas Woodrow Wilson
(December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924)

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SANDY KOZEL

During the bloody Battle for Iwo Jima, U.S. Marines from the 3rd Platoon, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Regiment of the 5th Division take the crest of
Mount Suribachi, the island’s highest peak and most strategic position, and
raise the U.S. flag. Marine photographer Louis Lowery was with them and
recorded the event.

Louis R. "Lou" Lowery (July 24, 1916 – April 15, 1987)

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEAVER STATE!

Mount Hood is the highest peak in Oregon.

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Painting of Francis Scott Key standing on boat, with
right arm stretched out toward the United States flag
flying over Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland.

Francis Scott Key penned a poem which is later set to music
and in 1931 becomes America’s national anthem, “The Star-
Spangled Banner.” The poem, originally titled “The Defense
of Fort McHenry,” was written after Key witnessed the
Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the
War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S.
flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected
in the now-famous words of the “Star-Spangled Banner”:
“And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”

Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843)

Francis S. Key was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet
from Frederick, Maryland. It has been speculated that the U.S. motto
"In God We Trust" was adapted from a line in the fourth stanza of
the "Star-Spangled Banner".

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