THE AMERICAN FLAG
Saluting the Flag
It is generally agreed that the unmilitary salute of the flag is thus: Remove the hat, holding it in the left hand, which is straight down; place the right hand on the heart, and bow the head slightly.
HISTORY OF THE FLAG
These facts are derived chiefly from Canby & Balderston's "Evolution of the American Flag", 1909
October 9, 1774, General Washington wrote, "No such thing [as independence] is desired by any thinking man in America".
The first Continental flag appears to have been that flown at Cambridge, January 1, 1776. It consisted of thirteen bars, red and white, for the thirteen states, and in the corner had the Union Jack, for, up to that time, most Americans expected a friendly settlement with Great Britain. It was known as the Grand Union Flag.
King George's ill-advised ultimatum, received early in January, 1776, put a new color on affairs, and Washington, apparently for the first time, accepted the idea of complete independence, January 4, 1776. This necessitated a new flag without the symbol of British sovereignty.
There is little doubt that Washington himself designed or assisted to design the new flag, and about the ist of June, 1776, General Washington, Committee Chairman Robert Morris, and Colonel George Ross, went to the upholstery of Betsy Ross, at No. 239 Arch Street, Philadelphia, and placed the order for the new flag. It consisted of the thirteen stripes, red and white, and ..text pokračuje
