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The American Flag (True Books, American Symbols)
What I Learned Section 1 -- Answer
the Following Questions:
1. What are
the nicknames for the United States flag?
Old Glory, the Stars and Stripes, and the Star-Spangled Banner.
The U.S. flag is a symbol of freedom. It stands for the land,
the people, and the government of the United States of America.
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2. What was the Grand
Union flag?
A flag designed by the American colonies in 1775. The Grand Union
flag was designed at Benjamin Franklin's suggestion. It displayed
the Union Jack in the upper left-hand corner, and the rest was
made up of thirteen red and white horizontal stripes. These stripes
(7 red and 6 white) represented the thirteen colonies.
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3. What did the first
U.S. flag look like?
It had thirteen red and white stripes and thirteen white stars
on a blue background. The thirteen stars and stripes represented
the thirteen colonies. On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress
passed a law creating this design as the first Official Flag of
the United States. However, this law was not specific, and there
were many different flag designs: some stars had five points and
some had six points; some stars were set in a circle and some
in rows; some had seven red stripes and some had six red stripes.
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4. What do the colors
of the U.S. flag represent?
The U.S. flag is red, white, and blue: red represents courage;
white represents purity or goodness; and blue represents justice.
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5. On what day of the
year does the United States celebrate Flag Day?
June 14. Flag Day was first celebrated on June 14, 1877. This
was the 100th anniversary of the first U.S. Flag. In 1949, President
Harry Truman signed legislation making Flag Day a day of national
observance.
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6. Today, how does the
U.S. flag change when a state is admitted to the Union?
A new star is added to the flag. In 1795, after Vermont and Kentucky
were admitted to the Union, two stars and two stripes were added
to the U.S. flag. However, with the addition of more and more
states, it was not possible to add a new stripe for each new state.
Therefore, Congressman Wendover of New York City suggested keeping
thirteen red and white stripes to represent the thirteen original
colonies and adding a new star to represent the new state. Congress
agreed and passed the third Flag Act of the United States on April
4, 1818, stating whenever a state was added, the new flag would
fly on the next Fourth of July.
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7. How many stars and
stripes does the U.S. flag have today?
50 stars and 13 stripes. Since 1960, the U.S. flag contains 50
white stars on a field of blue and 13 red and white stripes (7
red stripes and 6 white stripes). The 50 stars represent the 50
states of the U.S., and the 13 stripes represent the 13 original
colonies. The fifty-star flag is the twenty-seventh official flag
of the United States since the first Flag Law of 1777. Did
you know Alaska and Hawaii became states in 1959, making
them the last two states to join the Union?
Did
you know the thirteen original colonies were Virginia
(1607), New Jersey (1618), Massachusetts (1620), New Hampshire
(1622), Pennsylvania (1623), New York (1624), Maryland (1634),
Connecticut (1635), Rhode Island (1636), Delaware (1638), North
Carolina (1653), South Carolina (1670), and Georgia (1733)? The
dates refer to the first permanent white settlements.
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What I Learned Section 2 -- Define the
following words:
Allegiance: Devotion, loyalty
Colony: Region of land ruled by a foreign country
Justice: Fair treatment for all
Pledge: Promise
Resolution: The act of coming to a decision
Symbol: Something that stands for another thing
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Bonus Questions (Answer 1 of the
Following Questions for Your FREE
Bookmark):
a. What are the words to the Pledge of Allegiance?
I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
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b. What is the name
of the first official flag of Great Britain?
The Union Jack. Before England and Scotland united in 1603, and
became Great Britain, each country had its own flag. England's
flag was called St. George's Cross, and it was a red cross on
a white background. Scotland's flag was called St. Andrew's Cross,
and it was a white cross (shaped like an X) on a blue background.
When these two countries were united, their flags were merged
into the Union Jack. Did you know
when the first American colony of Virginia was founded in 1607,
by English settlers, the Union Jack was flown?
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c. What year was your
state admitted to the United States?
Alabama (1819) 
Alaska (1959)
Arizona (1912)
Arkansas (1836)
California (1850)
Colorado (1876)
Connecticut (1788)
Delaware (1787)
Florida (1845)
Georgia (1788)
Hawaii (1959)
Idaho (1890)
Illinois (1818)
Indiana (1816)
Iowa (1846)
Kansas (1861)
Kentucky (1792)
Louisiana (1812)
Maine (1820)
Maryland (1788)
Massachusetts (1788)
Michigan (1837)
Minnesota (1858)
Mississippi (1817)
Missouri (1821)
Montana (1889)
Nebraska (1867)
Nevada (1864)
New Hampshire (1788)
New Jersey (1787)
New Mexico (1912)
New York (1788)
North Carolina (1789)
North Dakota (1889)
Ohio (1803)
Oklahoma (1907)
Oregon (1859)
Pennsylvania (1787)
Rhode Island (1790)
South Carolina (1788)
South Dakota (1889)
Tennessee (1796)
Texas (1845)
Utah (1896)
Vermont (1791)
Virginia (1788)
Washington (1889)
West Virginia (1863)
Wisconsin (1848)
Wyoming (1890)
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d. Use five of the words
in Section 2 in a sentence.
Answers will vary. Here are sample sentences from our young readers:
We pledge allegiance to the
flag in Girl Scouts.
My ancestors lived in the Massachusetts colony.
The yard-duty keeps the justice
on the playground.
The President takes a pledge
of loyalty before taking office.
My parents and I had a resolution
when we decided to go to Disney World for a summer vacation.
The flag is a symbol for the
U.S.A.
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e. Have a parent or friend give you
a spelling test with EACH of the words in Section 2.
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More Valuable Information about the
American Flag:
The
Flag of the United States of America
History
of the Flags of the United States of America (plus State Flags)
National
Flag Day Foundation, Inc.
Betsy
Ross Home Page
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