US 250th Anniversary: America's Flag Wasn't Always The Same | Here's Why It Changed | MUST WATCH
The American flag hasn’t changed since 1960, when Hawaii entered the Union, but it’s the 29th iteration of the Stars and Stripes. Jason Opal, dean and director of The Ohio State University at Mansfield, traces the history of the flag from the Betsy Ross story to the national identity sparked by the War of 1812 to the flag’s growing symbolic significance as the American experience has expanded on a national scale. Opal, also a professor of history, explains the intentional design of the stripes representing the nation’s founding 13 states and the stars, representing all states, on a dark blue background like the night sky, symbolizing the Union – the idea that the United States had to be invented because the states otherwise weren’t naturally a nation. Opal also discusses how the Stars and Stripes resembles the flag of the East India Company, the British Empire’s powerful trading company.
This video explores the history and symbolism of the United States flag, discussing its evolution from the Revolutionary War to the present. It examines the role of Betsy Ross, the shifting meaning of the flag from a local marker to a symbol of national identity, and the intentional design choices that represent the union of independent states.
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What we do know is that Betsy Ross was a upholsterer in Philadelphia. Her family was
definitely a patriot family. In Philadelphia there were a lot of loyalists, so that's a
big thing to know. And she definitely made flags. She also had definitely, in 1774,
had done some work for George Washington, some bed hangings. So it's entirely plausible,
I would even say probable, that he or someone high-ranking approached her. We're currently
on the 29th official version of the United States flag. The most recent one was approved in 1960
after Hawaii entered the Union. So basically the flag has been growing as the states have
been growing. We've gone through lots of the iterations because the design is supposed to be
the stripes and the stars representing two different things. One would be the states
individually, and then the other part would be the union of those states. The Canton in the flag,
that's the corner, that's supposed to represent the union. The blue is supposed to be like the
night sky, and the stars are like stars in the sky. The idea being that the United States
had to be invented, had to be created, because they weren't naturally or otherwise united.
They weren't naturally or otherwise a nation. And so the symbol is really, really important.
What has changed is how you arrange the stars. So at first it's like in a circle, because that
looked pretty good, and there were few enough states that seemed to make a big difference.
There have been times in American history, though, when the number of states suddenly jumps.
So after the War of 1812, there's a sudden influx of states in the Deep South, as well as
in the 1830s, you have Michigan and Arkansas coming in together. Later in the 19th century,
as the union expands, there's more stars. It's only after the War of 1812 that people begin to
describe the United States as a nation, and Americans as a nationality. And that is really,
really crucial, because the flag became later the ultimate symbol of nationalism,
as opposed to this older way where the flags are, flags plural, are for localities or towns,
but not for a newfangled thing like the United States. There's a really close connection between
the sort of blood sacrifice and the kind of sacrifices made in war, the extraordinary
sacrifices and drama of war with flags. And just to sort of carry the point further, I would say
the American flag has become more important, became more important in the 19th and 20th century
than previously, because Americans' national experience has become so much more
national scale. The British Empire in the Americas or the British Empire on the high seas
was visually represented by flags, by the Union Jack, which is the flag of the Cross of St.
George and of St. Andrews connected after the Act of Union of England and Scotland in 1707.
But the other really recognizable flag on the high seas would be the East Indy Company.
And the fact that the United States, creating a republic, breaking away from the empire,
seceding from the empire, committing treason against the monarchy, high treason, took the
flag of the empire's most powerful trading company and turned it into the flag of a republic is just
really fascinating. I think our flag is a wonderful flag. It's visually striking. There's
an important intentional design behind it, that there were this number of independent places that
came together to form something new. And I suppose it's even neat that the canton and the part was
supposed to be stars in the sky, that can change, but they're all supposed to stay together. And
hopefully we can be reminded of that. My name is Jason Opal. It's J-A-S-O-N-O-P-A-L. I am the
dean and director of Ohio State University at Mansfield and a professor of history.
The American flag hasn't always looked the same. Since 1776, it has changed 29 times.
The current 50 star stars and stripes has remained unchanged since 1960,
when Hawaii became the 50th U.S. state. The 13 stripes honor the original colonies.
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