On 13 January 1794, President George Washington signed the FLAG ACT OF 1794 into law, changing the design of the American Flag to one with 15 STARS and 15 STRIPES, reflecting the admission into the Union of the states of Vermont and Kentucky. This flag, known as the STAR-SPANGLED BANNER, will be the only official flag of the United States to not have thirteen stripes. It will be the flag that Lewis and Clark carry with them on their famous expedition, and the flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write the poem that today is Americas National Anthem. Despite the addition of five more states (Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, and Mississippi), even Congress could see the problem of continuing to add new stripes to the flag for every state in the Union, and so the 15 STAR 15 STRIPE banner will remain the flag of the United States until the Flag Act of 1818 established the modern rule of having thirteen stripes to represent the original thirteen states and having the number of stars match the number of states. The 1818 law also provided that subsequent changes in the number of stars be made on July 4, Independence Day.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 11:07:33 +0000
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