| 1776 |
January 1 -- The Grand Union flag
is displayed on Prospect Hill. It has 13 alternate red and white stripes
and the British Union Jack in the upper left-hand corner (the canton). |
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| 1776 |
May -- Betsy Ross reports that she
sewed the first American flag |
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| 1777 |
June 14 -- Continental Congress
adopts the following: Resolved: that the flag of the United States be
thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen
stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.(stars
represent Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut,
Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New
York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island) |
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| 1787 |
Captain Robert Gray carries the
flag around the world on his sailing vessel (around the tip of South
America, to China, and beyond). He discovered a great river and named it
after his boat The Columbia. His discovery was the basis of America's
claim to the Oregon Territory. |
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| 1795 |
Flag with 15 stars and 15 stripes
(Vermont, Kentucky) |
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| 1814 |
September 14 -- Francis Scott Key
writes "The Star-Spangled Banner." It officially becomes the
national anthem in 1931. |
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| 1818 |
Flag with 20 stars and 13 stripes
(it remains at 13 hereafter) (Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana,
Mississippi) |
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| 1819 |
Flag with 21 stars (Illinois) |
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| 1820 |
Flag with 23 stars (Alabama,
Maine)
first flag on Pikes Peak |
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| 1822 |
Flag with 24 stars (Missouri) |
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| 1836 |
Flag with 25 stars (Arkansas) |
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| 1837 |
Flag with 26 stars (Michigan) |
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| 1845 |
Flag with 27 stars (Florida) |
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| 1846 |
Flag with 28 stars (Texas) |
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| 1847 |
Flag with 29 stars (Iowa) |
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| 1848 |
Flag with 30 stars (Wisconsin) |
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| 1851 |
Flag with 31 stars (California) |
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| 1858 |
Flag with 32 stars (Minnesota) |
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| 1859 |
Flag with 33 stars (Oregon) |
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| 1861 |
Flag with 34 stars; (Kansas) first
Confederate Flag (Stars and Bars) adopted in Montgomery, Alabama |
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| 1863 |
Flag with 35 stars (West Virginia) |
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| 1865 |
Flag with 36 stars (Nevada) |
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| 1867 |
Flag with 37 stars (Nebraska) |
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| 1869 |
First flag on a postage stamp |
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| 1877 |
Flag with 38 stars (Colorado) |
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| 1890 |
Flag with 43 stars (North Dakota,
South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho) |
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| 1891 |
Flag with 44 stars (Wyoming) |
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| 1892 |
"Pledge of Allegiance"
first published in a magazine called "The Youth's Companion,"
written by Francis Bellamy. The words, "under God" were added
on June 14, 1954. |
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| 1896 |
Flag with 45 stars (Utah) |
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| 1908 |
Flag with 46 stars (Oklahoma) |
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| 1909 |
Robert Peary places the flag his
wife sewed atop the North Pole. He left pieces of another flag along the
way. He was never censored for his action. |
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| 1912 |
Flag with 48 stars (New Mexico,
Arizona) |
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| 1945 |
The flag that flew over Pearl
Harbor on December 7, 1941, is flown over the White House on August 14,
when the Japanese accepted surrender terms. |
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| 1949 |
August 3 -- Truman signs bill
requesting the President call for Flag Day (June 14) observance each
year by proclamation. |
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| 1959 |
Flag with 49 stars (Alaska) |
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| 1960 |
Flag with 50 stars (Hawaii) |
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| 1963 |
Flag placed on top of Mount
Everest by Barry Bishop. |
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| 1969 |
July 20 -- The American flag is
placed on the moon by Neil Armstrong. |
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| 1995 |
December 12 -- The Flag
Desecration Constitutional Amendment is narrowly defeated in the Senate.
The Amendment to the Constitution would make burning the flag a
punishable crime. |
