#1 [url]

Mar 15 09 7:52 PM

The story that Betsy Ross sewed the first flag is unproven (and probably unprovable). Although, there exists documentation that she had sewn a flag for the Pennsylvania State Navy prior to the introduction of the Stars and Stripes, there is no conclusive evidence that she was the manufacturer of what has come to be known as the Betsy Ross Flag. Furthermore, she is almost most certainly not the flags designer (as distinguished from the flag's manufacturer). As Ronan has explained, the Betsy Ross story relies heavily on family tradition as retold by her grand daughter much much later. What we do know is that she was a flag maker at the time the first US stars and strips flag was made, and she was located a scant few blocks away from the seat of government. However, she wasn't the only flag maker at that time and in that area ... so in the end we do not know for certain who made it.

Resolved that the Flag of the United States be 13 stripes alternate red and white,
that the Union be 13 stars white in a blue field representing a new constellation"
- Continental Congress; June 14, 1777

It is also worth noting that the original specs for the national flag did not define a pattern for the stars. Some now believe that the stars on first flag were laid out in a grid, though I have my doubts about that. Perhaps it's just me being stubborn, but I subscribe to the traditional belief that the original flag had the stars arranged in a circle. It is quite clear the circular configuration was used during the war; the contention is whether it was the first, and not merely among the first.

I believe the Battle of Brandywine was the first major engagement in which the flag was flown. However, this may just be the first land engagement. Hrmmm, as a matter of fact, something in the back of my mind is telling me that the flag was originally intended for the navy and that its use on land by the army was only officially authorized decades later. Authorized or not, it was used on land during the AWI ... so don't let that legalistic detail deter its use in historical depiction. I will leave it to the mighty Ronan to strike down my recollection if it's in error.

Then let us fill a bumper, and drink a health to those
Who carry caps and pouches, and wear the loup'ed clothes.