U.S.
LIFE > Symbols
and Celebrations > National Symbols > The Pledge of
Allegiance
Flags
of the Revolution
Flags at Fort McHenry
Learn The Pledge of Allegiance
While making preparations for
the The Battle of Baltimore Major George
Armistead requested a flag "... so large that the British will have
no difficulty in seeing it from a distance..." to be flown over the
Fort. Mary Pickersgill of Baltimore was
commissioned to construct the flag. With help from her daughter, Caroline
Purdy, she sewed a woolen flag measuring 42 feet long by 30 feet high, a
remarkably large flag. Shown here is a representation of that flag. There
are several interesting things to note. The flag has fifteen stars and
fifteen stripes. During the War of 1812 there were 15 states in the Union,
Vermont and Kentucky having been added to the original 13. An early plan
for the flag was to add a new star and a new stripe for each new state.
With 15 stripes on the Pickersgill flag, which was 30 feet high, that
meant that each stripe was 2 feet wide! On that flag each star was also 2
feet across!
The flag we fly today has 50
stars representing the 50 states on a field of blue with 13 stripes
representing the thirteen original states alternating red and white from
top to bottom. Notice that each of the stars points to the top of the
flag. On the "Star Spangled Banner" which was flown over the
fort at the end of the Battle of Baltimore the stars were tilted slightly
to the left and right. Another difference to note between the two flags is
that on the 15 star flag the stripe just under the blue field is red,
whereas on the 50 star flag the stripe just under the blue field is white.
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."
Francis Bellamy, the author of
these words, was an ordained minister, magazine writer, and Freemason who
stated that his aim was to say "what our republic meant and what was
the underlying spirit of its life." Bellamy wrote the Pledge of
Allegiance in 1892 as part of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of
America by Columbus. It was embraced by the nation and almost immediately
became a part of the school-day ritual. Bellamy's original text has been
altered twice. In 1923, the words "the flag of the United States of
America" were substituted for the words "my flag". Congress
officially recognized the Pledge in 1942 and added the words "under
God" in 1954.
By
proclamation of President Harry S. Truman,
July 2, 1948, Fort McHenry was proclaimed to be one of only two sites in
the world over which the flag of the United States of America may be
displayed at all times, day and night. The other site is the Capitol
Building in Washington, D.C.
As a
symbol of our nation's sovereignty, the flag of the United States of
America is entitled to and should command the respect of every citizen.
The Congress of the United States, by joint resolution, has enacted the
Federal Flag Code setting forth the protocols
to be observed when displaying the flag.
"Preserving
The Legacy"
