Flag Day 2004

Today is Flag Day, the anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes design of the U.S. flag in 1777. A lot of Americans equate the flag with freedom, which is perfectly fine. The design itself, though, actually stands for union. The thirteen stripes stand for the original thirteen states, as did the thirteen stars of the original flag designed by Francis Hopkinson. The idea was to add more stars and stripes for each state that would join the Union, and the fifteen-star flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the bombardment in 1814 that led Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner" did have fifteen stripes. But when adding more stripes proved to be implausible, the government chose to only add a star for each new state, with thirteen stripes for the original states.

The longest period in which a star was not added was between 1912 and 1959, when we had the 48-star flag. The 50-star flag has been the official national flag since July 4, 1960. Unless Puerto Rico, or maybe Guam, becomes the fifty-first state before July 4, 2007 (don't bet on it, los puertoriquenos), the 50-star flag will outlast the 48-star version.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court let stand the legality of including the words "under God" in the Pledge Of Allegiance, saying it's not a form of mixing church with state. I disagree, of course, but hopefully those two words will be taken out someday. They were added fifty years ago today by a proclamation signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as an act of symbolism against Soviet-sanctioned agnosticism.