Naomi Howard
These shades now synonymous with freedom, equality, and baseball inspire patriotic pride throughout the country. The first official national flag, also known as the Stars and Stripes, was approved by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. This 15-star, 15-stripe flag was the “star-spangled banner” that inspired lawyer Francis Scott Key to write the poem that later became the U.S. national anthem. Through the words of the founding father himself, we gain a perspective of the American flag. “We take the stars and blue union from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty,” interpreted George Washington in 1777. Today the flag consists of thirteen horizontal stripes, seven red alternating with six white.
