The Evolution Of The Flag Of The United States Of America

 

The 14th day of June is U.S. Flag Day here in the United States of America.

This day commemorates the adoption of the first official flag used by the original thirteen American States following their declaration of independence from the authority of the British Empire by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday, June 14, 1777.

Many Americans have only known one flag their whole lives -- the current U.S. Flag that became official on July 4, 1960, after the State of Hawaii was admitted to the Union as the 50th state in 1959. But for generations, the United States flag was an ever-evolving symbol that reflected the growth of the nation.

Throughout more than 245 years of American history, the United States flag (also more affectionately known as "Old Glory") has undergone near-constant transformation from the pre-independence Grand Union Flag to the 50 Star U.S. flag that many of my generation have known our whole lives today.

In point of fact, the U.S. flag has been officially modified from its original design approximately 26 times since 1777. The current flag, adopted by the U.S Congress on Saturday, July 4, 1960, is the 27th and the longest used version of the flag of the United States to date.

The following is a brief, but I hope informative, history of the flag of the United States of America.

Oh, before I continue, here is a chart explaining the vexillology terms for the parts of a U.S. flag in order to help you, the reader, follow along if you're unfamiliar with certain terms.

The Early Flags Of The American Revolutionary War

When the American Revolutionary War began in April of 1775, the original thirteen rebellious British colonial territories in America started out using variations of their own flags known as "liberty flags" -- many of which continued to use British symbolism.

One such flag is the famous Taunton Flag, also known as the Liberty And Union Flag.

The Taunton Flag (also known as the Liberty and Union Flag) 1774,
was one of the first American Revolutionary War flags.

Adopted on Friday, October 21, 1774 -- just over six months before the first shots of the war would be fired at Lexington and Concord -- the Taunton Flag was raised on a tall pole outside the town's courthouse after the local Sons of Liberty had forced out most of the American Loyalists from the town of Taunton, Massachusetts.

The red flag had the British Union Jack banner of red and white St. George's Cross of England and the blue and white St. Andrews Cross of Scotland (also known as the "Kings Colours") as its canton and reportedly the words Liberty And Union painted across the red field -- although this latter fact is disputed when it comes to accounts of the original flag itself.

The Taunton Flag was one of the first flags used within the Thirteen Colonies to express dissension against the authority of the Crown. Ironically, the flag is still in use today as the official city banner of Taunton.

When the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) formally broke out in spring of 1775, various banners of all types were used by the Colonials and Patriot militias, some of which bore no British symbol at all, opting for distinctly independent American banners such as the Taunton Flag, or the George Rex Flag in New York.

Perhaps the most famous of these Patriot banners are the "Don't Tread On Me" timber rattlesnake flags inspired by Benjamin Franklin's famous "Join, Or Die" political cartoon original published in his newspaper The Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754 -- the earliest known pictorial representation of a colonial union. The timber rattlesnake, being a distinctly American animal, became the first national symbol of unity and were widely popular among those Americans who began to see themselves as individuals independent from British authority.

Among these uniquely American rattlesnake flags are the white "Liberty Or Death" Culpeper Minutemen Flag and the distinctively yellow Gadsden Flag -- one of the first banners of what would later become the U.S. Marine Corps.

Colonel Christopher Gadsden represented his home State of South Carolina and was one of seven members of the Marine Committee outfitting the first American naval mission in December of 1775. The flag he designed was flown from the flagship and another copy of it was later presented to the South Carolina State Congress in February of 1776.

The Gadsden Flag remains one of the most popular historic banners of the American Revolutionary War.

The Culpeper Minutemen Flag 1775-1776.

The Gadsden Flag 1775-1776.

The Grand Union Flag & The Stars and Stripes Flag

It was decided that a new flag was needed to represent the Continental Congress and the United Thirteen Colonies with a banner distinct from the British Red Ensign flown from civilian and merchant vessels, the White Ensign of the British Royal Navy, and the Flag of Great Britain carried on land by the British army.

Americans first hoisted the Grand Union Flag on the colonial warship Alfred, in the harbor on the Delaware River at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Sunday, December 3, 1775, by then Lieutenant John Paul Jones of the newly established Continental Navy. The event had been documented in letters to Congress and in eyewitness accounts.

During the long Siege of Boston, General George Washington commanding the newly established Continental Army first raised the Grand Union Flag over his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Tuesday, January 2, 1776.

The Grand Union Flag of the Continental Army 1776-1777.

The Grand Union Flag bore the Union Jack of Great Britain as its canton, but also bore the now familiar 13 red and white stripes representing the thirteen American States. The stripes were based on other banners used by organizations like the Sons of Liberty years before in their calls for American independence. An interesting compromise between loyalty to the Mother County and the idea of American sovereignty.

Its unknown who actually designed the banner, but the original Grand Union Flag that was flown on the Alfred has been credited to Philadelphia milliner Miss Margaret Manny as the original designer. Pennsylvania seamstress Miss Rebecca Flower Young was also credited with sewing other flags for the Continental Army and Navy during the war, including the first Grand Union Flag that was flown over Washington's headquarters.

It was under the Grand Union Flag that the American Declaration of Independence was signed by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia on Thursday, July 4, 1776.

The Grand Union Flag and would actually remain the symbol of American defiance to the British Crown until at least 11 months after the Declaration of Independence was signed. By this time though any affection to the Old World was largely severed -- at least by American Patriots -- and a new distinctly American flag was needed.

The Flag Resolution (Flag Act of 1777) formally passed by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777 and seeking to promote national pride and unity, stated: "Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."

Following the resolution, the Grand Union Flag with its British Union Jack canton was permanently retired and replaced with a new flag that symbolized the independence and sovereignty of thirteen American States. This would be the first American flag to be known as the Stars and Stripes.

The original 13-Star Stars & Stripes Flag of the United States
(1777-1794).

Because the Flag Resolution of 1777 only specified 13 stars on a blue field and 13 stripes of red and white, initially there was little regulation to the design of the U.S. flag. The resolution at the time did not specify the pattern for the stars, the number of points on the stars, the width of the stripes or the canton (the blue field), or whether a white or red stripe should be first.

Flag makers often improvised on patterns and the number of points in the stars. Sometimes even the alternating 13-stripe arrangement was open to interpretation. This caused a proliferation of flag designs with the stars especially being in many different patterns.

Perhaps the most famous variant of this flag was allegedly designed by Philadelphia upholsterer and flag maker Miss Betsy Griscom Ross (1752–1836), the new banner of Washington's Continental Army had 13 five-pointed white stars arrayed in a circle on a blue canton (union) with 13 horizontal red and white stripes.

The story of this flag comes entirely from Betsy's grandson William J. Canby, and a few other relatives, all of whom stated many years after her death that they heard Betsy tell the story from her own mouth. Canby told this story in 1870, around the time of the upcoming Centennial celebrations and the family legend became a part of the American consciousness.

The legend goes that George Washington, George Ross (the uncle of Betsy's late husband and a member of Congress), and Robert Morris approached her secretly in May or June of 1776 and asked her to make the flag, however only circumstantial evidence supports the story. Betsy and George Washington sat in pews next to each other at church and Washington was known to visit Betsy socially and professionally, using her tailoring services.

Today the Betsy Ross Flag is largely used to commemorate U.S. Independence Day (July 4th).

The Betsy Ross Flag is considered one of the most iconic flags
of American Independence.

The Flag Act of 1794 -- The Star-Spangled Banner

Following the end of the American Revolutionary War and the establishment of the Federal Union with the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1787, the newly independent American States were now a new and growing nation.

In January of 1794, the U.S. Congress passed a second flag act to accommodate the admission of the States of Vermont and Kentucky into the Union later that year.

The Flag Act of 1794 reads: "An Act making an alteration in the Flag of the United States. Be in enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress Assembled, That from and after the first day of May, Anno Domini, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, the flag of the United States, be fifteen stripes alternate red and white. That the Union be fifteen stars, white on a blue field."

The act was signed into law by President George Washington in New York City, New York on Monday, January 15, 1794.

The 15-Star Flag of the United States of America --
The Star-Spangled Banner.

The 15-Star U.S. Flag is probably one of the most iconic designs after the famous Betsy Ross flag for its role during the War of 1812 during the Battle of Baltimore (September 12-15, 1815) when it flew over Fort McHenry and its presence inspired Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) to pen the poem that would later become The Star-Spangled Banner, the national anthem of the United States.

Mary Young Pickersgill (1776-1857), the daughter of Rebecca Young (mentioned earlier as one of the possible designers of the Grand Union Flag), was commissioned by the commander of Fort McHenry, Major George Armistead the year before the British attack. She and several others made the flag of 15 stars and stripes at her house and finished on the floor of a nearby brewery. A more detailed account of this story can be read at this blog site HERE.

The 15-Star U.S. Flag would serve from 1795 until 1918. It would be the only official flag of the United States to ever have more than thirteen stripes. As the result of the lack of a Flag Act between 1794 and 1818, there were no official U.S. flags with sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, or nineteen stars. No flag laws were enacted to accompany the admission of new states to the federal Union during this period.

The Flag Act of 1818 -- Setting The Standard

The Flag Act of 1818 was enacted by the U.S. Congress on Saturday, April 4, 1818. It provided for the modern rule of having thirteen horizontal stripes of red and white to represent the original thirteen American States and having the number of white five-pointed stars match the current number of U.S. States in the federal Union.

It also added five stars for the recently inducted States of Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, and Mississippi into the Union, and also set the rule that provided for subsequent future changes in the number of stars for further States admitted to the Union be made on Independence Day (July 4th).

The Flag Act of 1818 reads:

"An Act to establish the flag of the United States.

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress Assembled, That from and after the fourth day of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white: that the union be twenty stars, white in a blue field.

"And be it further enacted, That on the admission of every new state into the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag; and that such addition shall take effect of the fourth day of July then next succeeding such admission."

20-Star U.S. Flag (1818-1819).

As the United States expanded across the North American continent, new States were added to the federal Union and to the U.S. Flag between 1818 to 1912, bringing the number of stars to forty-eight; the Stars and Stripes itself changing approximately twenty-two times in just under a hundred years! In some cases, one U.S. Flag would only be official for a single year before a new star was added to the canton.

A strange contradiction would happen in the period referred to as the American Civil War (or War Between the States) between 1861-1865.

During this time thirteen American States from the Southern United States withdrew from the Union (two of these -- Missouri and Kentucky -- had two separate State governments which represented congress in two American republics) and became part of the short-lived Confederate States of America.

Since the U.S. Congress and government refused to formally recognize the secession and independence of those "rebel states" or the Confederate government, the flag of the United States continued to have at least 13 trouble stars in its canton for the duration of that unfortunate and ugly war. In fact, between 1861 and 1865, there would be three more stars added to the Union -- including a new State of West Virginia which seceded from the then Confederate State of Virginia -- going from 34 to 36 stars in those years.

One of the controversies here is the fact that at least ten of the former Confederate States had to be readmitted to the Union over the course of several years following the end of the war, despite the fact that (at least according to the U.S. government) none of then actually left and no stars representing those states were removed from the flag itself.

The Confederate States Flag also has a rather interesting history and evolution similar to that of the Stars and Stripes that I'd previously discussed in an article on the origins of Confederate Flag Day (March 4th) which you can refer to for further information on the subject.

Another strange occurrence with the stars of the U.S. Flag in this time was the arrangement of the stars in the canton itself.

With every new batch of States added, the stars had to be rearranged into rows, but sometimes these would end up uneven and had to be arranged into other patterns like stars, circles, and diamond-shaped patterns that gave it a crab-like appearance.

One variation of this was called the "Great Star" U.S. Flag which consisted of the stars in the canton shaped like a large five-pointed star. This variation would be popular from the passing of the Flag Act of 1818 till sometime in the 1870s.

A variation of the "Great Star" pattern of the U.S.Flag popular
from 1818 till the 1870s.

Between 1912 till 1959, Old Glory had six even rows of eight stars in its canton, each representing the forty-eight continental U.S. States. This version of the U.S. Flag would serve as the second-longest serving design of the Stars and Stripes. It would serve as the national flag of the United States through both world wars and be featured in some of the most patriotic moments of that generation, such as the iconic raising of Old Glory on Iwo Jima on Friday, February 23, 1945 near the end of the Pacific Theater of World War II. 

United States Marines on Iwo Jima following the battle to
capture the island in 1945 beneath the 48-Star U.S. Flag.
(Photo courtesy of the National Archives)

The 50-star flag that most Americans know today wasn’t created until Monday, July 4, 1960, the year after Hawaii joined the Union.

This is the longest serving version of the Stars and Stripes to date. It was carried by American soldiers in the wars that have shaped the world we live in today -- for better or worse -- and was the first human flag to be planted on the surface of the Moon on Monday, July 21, 1969. It's the flag that has seen many of this country's greatest accomplishments of the last 60 years.

Most importantly to me, its the flag I served under as a U.S. military serviceman, which I continue to fly daily in front of my home. It is the flag that I proudly call the banner of my country.

Happy U.S. Flag Day everyone! God Bless America.

The Flag of the United States of America,
also known more fondly by U.S. citizens as the "Stars and Stripes"
and "Old Glory".

The Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag:

"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."

The Third Confederate National Flag Adopted March 4, 1865

March 4th is Confederate Flag Day in most Southern States in the United States of America.

It was on this day in Southern history, Saturday, March 4, 1865, the Third (and final) Confederate National Flag was adopted on this day by the Confederate Congress in Richmond, Virginia.

"The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the flag of the Confederate States shall be as follows: The width two-thirds of its length, with the union (now used as the battle flag) to be in width three-fifths of the width of the flag, and so proportioned as to leave the length of the field on the side of the union twice the width of the field below it; to have the ground red and a broad blue saltier thereon, bordered with white and emblazoned with mullets or five pointed stars, corresponding in number to that of the Confederate States; the field to be white, except the outer half from the union to be a red bar extending the width of the flag."  -- Flag Act of 1865

This flag -- informally referred to by Confederate heritage promoters today as the "Blood Stained Banner" -- served as the national flag of the Confederate States of America until the government of that nation was formally dissolved by President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet on Friday, May 5, 1865 in Washington, Georgia -- only 63 days, making it the shortest serving flag of an American nation.

Few historical copies of this banner remain in existence today in museums and private collections.

The Star-Spangled Banner -- Poem & U.S. National Anthem

Robert McGill Mackall’s 1976 oil painting depicting Mary Young Pickersgil,
her 13 year-old daughter, Caroline, and a niece, Eliza Young, sewing the
Star-Spangled Banner, the U.S. Flag that flew over Fort McHenry
in Baltimore, Maryland during the War of 1812 (1812-1815).
Image courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society.

The Star-Spangled Banner

By Francis Scott Key

*O! say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming:
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming,
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;

O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam --
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream;

'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave.
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave!

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation;
Bless'd with victory and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just --
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

*The highlighted first paragraph and chorus make up the U.S. National Anthem.

The Story of the Star-Spangled Banner

The Star-Spangled Banner, U.S. Flag (1795-1818).

In 1813 the United States was once again at war with Great Britain, and the city of Baltimore, Maryland was preparing for an eventual attack by the British.

U.S. Army Major George Armistead, the commander of nearby Fort McHenry near Baltimore Harbor, felt that the fort was prepared for an attack, and only lacked a suitable flag. He expressed this concern in a letter to Major General Samuel Smith, the head of the military commander for Baltimore. Armistead wrote, "We, sir, are ready at Fort McHenry to defend Baltimore against invading by the enemy. That is to say, we are ready except that we have no suitable ensign to display over the Star Fort and it is my desire to have a flag so large that the British will have no difficulty seeing it from a distance."

It was resolved that the flag of Fort McHenry would be a garrison flag measuring and incredible 30 X 42 feet.

The seamstress commissioned by Armistead to create this large flag was a 29-year-old local widow named Mary Young Pickersgill, the sister-in-law of U.S. Navy Commodore Joshua Barney.

In early summer 1813, she began the job with the assistance of her then 13 year-old daughter, Caroline, her two nieces, Eliza Young and Margaret Young, a 13-year-old African American indentured servant, Grace Wisher, and likely her elderly mother, Rebecca Young -- another notable flag maker. Additional local seamstresses were also hired during the summer.

Pickergill's team worked 10-hour days sewing the flag, using 300 yards of English wool bunting, often working late into the evening, until midnight at times. Initially they worked from Pickergill's home, but as their work progressed they needed more room and had to move to Claggett's Brewery across the street to continue their commission. The ladies were able to complete the job in six weeks and delivered the flag to Fort McHenry on Thursday, August 19, 1813.

The giant 15-Star U.S. flag flew over Fort McHenry peacefully for a year before the fort was attacked by the British Royal Navy during the Battle of Baltimore (September 12-15, 1814).

On Tuesday, September 13, 1814, British warships fired over 1,600 cannonballs and rockets onto Fort McHenry during an often rainy day and evening for nearly 25 hours until the next morning on September 14th.

A week earlier, Francis Scott Key, a 35-year-old American lawyer and amateur poet, had boarded the British flagship on the Chesapeake Bay on a mercy mission in hopes of persuading the British to release of Dr. William Beanes, a friend who had recently been arrested and was a prisoner. The British agreed to release Beanes, but both Key and Beanes were forced to stay with the British until the attack on Baltimore was over. Key watched the proceedings from a truce ship under guard on the Patapsco River eight miles away.

On the morning of the 14th, Key saw the large 15-star American flag still waving above Fort McHenry. Inspired by the sight he began jotting down verses to the poem on the back of a letter he was carrying.

His brother-in-law, commander of an American militia at Fort McHenry, later read Key's words and had it distributed under the name "Defence on Fort M'Henry." It would be was printed in the Baltimore Patriot newspaper and, within weeks, Key's immortalized words would appear in print across the country.

Key's poem was later set to the tune of a British song called "To Anacreon in Heaven", the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century gentleman's club of amateur musicians in London. The song eventually became known as "The Star-Spangled Banner".

On Wednesday, March 4, 1931 U.S. President Herbert Hoover signed the bill passed by the U.S. Congress the day before officially making the Star-Spangled Banner the official U.S. national anthem.

As for the famous flag itself, following the War of 1812, the original Star-Spangled Banner of Fort McHenry remained in the possession of the Armistead family though some of the flag (including one of the stars) were stripped off and given as souvenirs by Armistead's widow in memory of her husband who died in 1818 and those who fell in defense of the fort. 

One anecdotal story claims that Armistead's nephew, Confederate Brigadier General Lewis "Lo" Armistead, carried a piece of the flag in his uniform coat pocket during the War Between the States (1861-1865) until his death at the Battle of Gettysburg following Pickett's Charge on Friday, July 3, 1863.

Today the restored original Star-Spangled Banner is on permanent display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington D.C.

Should We Surrender On The Flag Issue?

Should We Surrender On The Flag Issue?

By C.W. Roden

What I am about to tell you will come as a terrible shock to many of you whom in the last few years have followed my words, but it is with a heart heavy with sadness and regret that I, C.W. Roden ~ The Man Deniers Fear The Most ~ must accept that for the last couple of decades of my life have been wasted defending a terrible lie and engaging in some serious self-deception regarding a flag that I and many Southern-born Americans today honor very dearly. 

Yes, ladies and gentlemen of Dixie, I am afraid I have to turn in my official Flag Defender License and abandon what I have now come to realize is a hopeless and futile cause. 

This is not a decision I have come to lightly, but one made after many years of continued opposition on all sides by the NAACP, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Anti-Defamation League, various other Left-leaning social groups, a number of Righteous Cause Apologist bloggers, Black Confederate Deniers, scalawags, and other lower individuals of all sorts over the course of two decades of active heritage defense in regards to symbols honored by Southerners including those of Confederate descent. 

You could say that the collective voices of all of these people have finally opened up my heart to the truth of their arguments regarding a certain flag that I now find I cannot bear to name due to the pain of regret I feel. 

For years I have been deaf to the arguments made, turned a blind eye to the pain and suffering caused by the sight of a banner that the worst racists in America flash often as a sign of their intolerance, their bigotry, and their malicious attitudes towards people who are not of their own kind. 

Yes I know some of you will call me a traitor for this -- if not a number of worse and uglier names -- but I have stood against those who condemned this banner for its ugliness and its racism for so long and endured so much from them too. 

Now though, I find that once I really listened to the arguments made by those who oppose this flag, looked into my heart and examined what I found there, I found my own arguments in its defense very much wanting. 

Indeed now find they offend even me, especially in the manner in which I have fought in vain to defend this flag. 

I have argued that those who engaged in the battle against this certain flag that many Southerners hold so dear were the same as those who misuse it as a symbol of racism, if not worse because they knew the "truth" as I saw it and ignored it. 

I have even argued that these same people conspired with these same racists at times to see the struggle to defend this certain flag's good name defeated. 

Before I offer a formal statement of apology, let me tell everyone who is reading this, no matter if they are for or against this certain flag honored by many Southerners today, the arguments made that finally convinced me to open my eyes and my heart to the truth....a truth many of you on this page refuse to hear. 

Let me be the one to lead you to that truth now, and I urge you not to turn your back on it before I finish. 

We have been told that those of us who honor this flag that I now see as representing all of the ugliness and intolerance, in our efforts to glorify this certain banner and the heritage it stands for, do not acknowledge the painful history of this symbol.

We do not acknowledge or recognize the pain it brings to the sight of so many who lived through some of that ugly history.
 

We disregard those feelings in favor of the more self-glorifying view of that flag's history.

We turn a blind eye to the fact that symbols mean things, that in our efforts to live in our own glorified view of history, we subject those who will never view this flag as anything more than a symbol of slavery and racial hatred to almost daily pain and agony of the soul. 

We ignore the fact that this once proud banner is forever stained with the scars of American racism and the defense of African slavery. 

We do not think about the fact that this flag may well have been the last sight that so many last saw as they were lynched by an angry mob of hateful racists for petty offenses. 

We forget that this flag is a symbol of treason to government authority originally. 

We pretend that this once sacred banner has been hijacked by racist groups who support white supremacist bigotry, display it at all of their rallies, and use it as a code to say: "You're not wanted here, go back where you came from" to Americans of color. 

May of us are well content to ignore all of those fact and continue to salute this flag of ignorance and prejudice for all of its good and positive aspects, while at the same time conveniently ignoring the negative aspects and those effected by them on a personal level. 

Well, that's not for me, ladies and gentlemen. 

Not anymore. 

I can no longer pretend that I do not hear the pain in the voices of so many fellow Southerners of color, and fellow descendants of Confederate soldiers who have awakened to the truth: this flag is everything our opposition has claimed for the last 20 - 30 years. 

In fact, here are several photos of that flag being used as described by our opponents. Be warned though, these images are deeply disturbing:

Okay, I honestly hope I did not give some of y'all heart attacks with that, but I do hope that for all of those reading this who oppose efforts to defend and preserve the honor of the Southern Cross of Dixie (the Battle Flag ANV and the Confederate Naval Jack) will recognize the outright ignorance and moral bankruptcy of their many claims regarding the noble banner of the South. 

Remember that all claims made about the Dixie Cross also apply historically and in modern terms to Old Glory itself, a flag many Southerners really do honor as much as the flag of the Southland. In fact, all of the arguments made would apply to the current US flag many times over compared to the Dixie Cross. 

Flags are not inherently evil -- and certainly not Old Glory or the Dixie Cross -- only those who carry them with the intent to intimidate and discriminate can make them so. It is only in the hands of those of us who honor these flags that they mean anything positive at all. It is up to us as Southerners and Americans to continue to defend their honor. 

This blogger pledges to do just that now until the day the Lord calls me home. No argument made by those who accept hatred -- either the hate practiced by the Alt-Right, or the Alt-Left -- will change that fact. 

How NOT To Protest National Anthem Protesters With Flags

Last night someone sent me the following YouTube video titled: Police Abuse, Civil Rights Violation at Urbandale High School 10/14/16. This incident happened over the weekend. 

The video shows the aftermath of a lone Iowa man, one Mr. Scott Greene, using both the United States flag and the Dixie Cross flag (Confederate battle flag) to protest those high school players and fans who were themselves taken part in the odious kneeling protest of the US National Anthem made famous by NFL player Colin Kapernick. Mr. Greene was arrested by local police for non-compliance when he refused to leave. 

Now I only know that those were the details behind the video based on other news outlets. The video itself only shows the events that took place once Mr. Greene was escorted from the stadium.

Mr. Greene "protesting" National Anthem protesters -- and being a pain in the ass to everyone else.
(Photo courtesy of YouTube)

In his video Mr. Greene claims that his rights to protest were violated, that he had a right to be there and protest. That he was assaulted by the police because they took hold of him and escorted him from the stadium following his loud disturbing lone-wolf protest. 

Apparently he also felt that waving the US and Dixie Cross banners during the National Anthem was an appropriate form of protesting against what he sees as an act of disrespect by "African-American people" using his own words.  

Now allow me to explain, using good ole Southern Fried Common Sense, just why Mr. Greene is totally full of shit.

Let me begin by stating for the record that I do not support those sports players and fans who kneel in protest when the Star Spangled Banner is played before sporting events. 

Do I think those who protest have legitimate grievances? To some small degree yes, I do. I am no supporter of police brutality, but I have seen no significant evidence that police officers in the United States make a point of targeting non-white Americans, or kill them in police shooting in larger numbers than white Americans. Quite the contrary in fact based on the actual numbers and statistics.

I am also no supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement because I believe that a number of those involved are not there to promote seeking justice, but rather to promote anarchy and disunity under the guise of social justice. 

This blogger believes that every live matters and has equal worth. That every life deserve the same consideration regardless of race, class, or religious affiliation.

I also believe very strongly that the vast majority of police officers in America are good men and women who preform a wonderful and often thankless job of protecting and defending people from violent criminals. I support these outstanding men and women.  

Sure there are those very few who abuse that authority and commit terrible acts of injustice against the people they are sworn to protect for whatever reason, but such people do not represent the whole of any American police force in any significant way. 

Certainly not everyone would agree with that, and there certainly there are various reasons for such negative perceptions of the police in poor inner city neighborhoods. I also agree that those are things that need to be worked on with people of goodwill on both sides leading the way.  

All of that being said, I do not agree that dropping to one knee and doing a "reverse Tebow" is the way to go about drawing positive attention to that cause. 

Protesting the US National Anthem is a shameful act of disrespect to the men and women who serve and protect American lives, not just as police officers in uniform, but also as firefighters, first responders, and yes as US military veterans both active duty and otherwise.

I have read some pretty disgusting stories about football players, cheerleaders and students at various high schools and colleges actually dropping the knee and being disrespectful to US military veterans -- sometimes aged and disabled ones -- in disgusting acts of petulant entitlement. 

That athletes would use their positions to promote such disrespect, even in the name of an allegedly worthy cause, is even more outrageous. 

Certainly this is worth protesting, but not the way Mr. Greene did. 

What he did was wave two honorable American banners -- the flag of our nation and a living Southern symbol -- in a loud, obnoxious protest to attack people, specifically Black Americans. This in spite of the fact that not all of the National Anthem protesters to date have been non-whites, far from it in point of fact. 

The fact that he choose to use a Dixie Cross (battle flag) -- a Southern banner -- in Iowa, which is in fact a Northern State, as part of his protest is likewise suspicious. Meaning that his misuse of the Dixie Cross in his protest was likely designed to intimidate, or deliberately outrage black American high school students and family members present at the stadium for the game.

A small investigation on my part has also found that Mr. Greene is neither a member of a legitimate Confederate heritage organization, nor a transplanted Southerner. I suspected this would not be the case.

Mr. Greene is another example of a racial antagonist deliberately misusing the US and Southern banners as weapons to promote hatred -- all the while using the guise of outrage over the protesting of The Star Spangled Banner as justification for his actions.

Unlike the cases in Mississippi where students were arrested at Old Miss games for displaying the State Flag of Mississippi, which still bears the Dixie Cross symbol; the case in Iowa was not a matter of protesting a discriminatory policy designed to marginalize and discriminate against Southerners who honor that flag. It was an act of legitimate intimidation designed by a malcontent -- Mr Greene -- to deliberate target and attack a group of people who (rightly or wrongly) have the right to protest, even if one disagrees with the manner of said protest. 

In this case the police were right to arrest Mr. Greene for his failure to comply. He was using the flags to intimidate and to create unnecessary malice reflected badly on the community as a whole, and committed more deliberate disruption in ways far worse than the protesters of the National Anthem ever could achieve. 

I would also like to take the time to offer my apologies for those people who were subject to this outrageous act. If any of them are reading this, I pray they accept the word of this blogger that the actions of Mr. Greene and people like him do not reflect on millions of Southerners and Americans of Confederate descent of all races and creeds who honor the Dixie Cross banner in positive context as a living Southern symbol. I also pray they do not come away with a bad view of Old Glory because of the act of one malcontent.

Now I am not against the use of the Dixie Cross as a symbol of protest, though I do not agree that the first prinicple use of that flag should be for that purpose. As a symbol of Southern identity and Confederate heritage, its first use is as a memorial symbol for the Confederate dead. Its secondary use is as a symbol of Southern pride and the solidarity of Confederate descendants. Protesting acts of Confederaphobic hatred is the distant third.

To use either the US flag or the Dixie Cross as a symbol of deliberate intimidation -- in this case against non-white people -- is an act of hatred and evil. It is an abomination and disrespect to every modern-day Southerner, no matter their skin color. Particularly outrageous to those of us who have Confederate ancestry and condemn such actions.

And it is for the latter reason that the Yankee misappropriator of the Dixie Cross, Mr. Greene, earns the Dipshit of the Month Award.

If one wants to really protest athletes who want to disrespect our national anthem and, by extension, men and women in uniform; then I would suggest just walking out of the games. Not paying to see them. Not supporting them. Not supporting schools and organizations that permit such actions. 

Certainly those actions are far more effective and speak far louder in expressing disappointment and disgust; far most so than waving flags, or even taking a knee and looking like a moron in the process. 

POW-MIA Day

On the third Friday and weekend of September, the United States of America honors POW-MIA Day in recognition of US And American Veterans who were held as prisoners of war in all American Wars. Especially those who never returned from war.

This blogger proudly honors POW-MIA Day...and would extend that respect not just to US and American servicemen who were prisoners of war; but to ALL soldiers in every human war who ever fought for the honorable defense of their country, of their homes, their family, and their native lands. For those who gave their all and never returned and those who forever mourned their loss.

Many Came Home...Some Did Not. You Will Never Be Forgotten!

US Flag Day And Common Sense On Flag Desecration

The 14th day of June is Flag Day in the United States. This day commemorates the adoption of the first flag of the United States by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777.

In 1916, US President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day. In August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress. Flag Day is not an official federal holiday.

What more appropriate day to discuss the following topic: flag desecration.

I fly the US flag outside my house every day - along with one other flag dear to my heart. One the symbol of the country and constitution that I love, the other the symbol of the Southland of my birth and part of my cultural identity. Both flags mean a great deal to me, and I have been known to have more than a few words with people who speak badly about either one.

Recently, there has been a trend among some individuals in America to show their disdain for both flags. The first is a social media campaign was launched a little over a month ago by Leftist activists encouraging young people to post photos online of them stepping on the US flag laying on the ground. The other a protest of a handful of extreme anti-Southern heritage reactionaries to "cremate" and scatter the ashes of the Dixie Cross in every former Confederate State to "celebrate the end of the War."

Such disrespect and low-class behavior is not new.

For decades those who have some grievance with America, from Vietnam-era protesters to the Westboro Baptist "Church" (the last word I use loosely) have shown their disdain by burning the US flag, one of the most disgraceful - and ultimately useless - acts one can commit as a form of protest.

The recent cremation ceremonies - held on US Memorial Day of all days - by Confederate flag haters and pro-white supremacist reactionaries and other "uber-patriots" was likewise both unimaginative, and ultimately served no point beyond an excuse for angry anti-Southern bigots to gather and vent their anger at whatever stereotypes they choose to accept as the norm.

In both cases barely a handful of anti-American and anti-Southern activists actually preformed these acts. Yet both the US flag stomping campaign and the Dixie Cross cremation ceremonies were important enough to make national news for various different reasons, giving these low-class morons more attention than either deserved.

Under the US Constitution, flag burning and yes even stepping on it is recognized as an acceptable form of protest.

Acceptable: yes. Tasteful: not so much.

Both acts were meant to serve two purposes on the part of the people preforming them: to express their own anger and disdain for both this country and for what they feel is some injustice, either real or imagined; and to provoke a negative reaction from those whom they consider regressive, bigoted, or simply do not share their particular political and social idealism. 

In my case, both acts did anger me - for about a minute.

My only outrage over both acts was the disrespect they showed to those American soldiers and servicemen (US soldiers in all America's wars and Confederate servicemen both) who fought and died, or suffered wounds and disabilities, in defense of their country and home. Even if you do not respect the government a flag represents, you should at least respect the sacrifices of the men who died for them, and the land that they loved. My respect for both flags centers less around government bureaucracies and politics, and more around respect for the constitutional ideals and the land they represent (more the former in the case of the US flag) as well as a profound respect for those who died in their defense.  

There is one beautiful thing about these two beautiful symbols. One can destroy the cloth, but the symbols and the true meaning and ideals they hold for any individual in their hearts and minds cannot be so so easily desecrated. New flags can be made. They can fly in the sunshine, the rain, the snow, the wind. They can fade and wear out, and be replaced again. It's not the bunting itself, but what it represents to those who honor it and cherish it that matters.

The only way to truly desecrate either of those flags is to misuse either one as a tool to express hatred of others, to corrupt their meaning through bigoted ideology to advance the sin of hatred, or to blindly accept the idea that misuse of either symbol means they are tainted. So long as someone is there to speak out and stand up against such wrongful thinking and misuse, that will never be a fait accompli.

In the end, what did the walking on, or burning of either the US flag and the Dixie Cross accomplish other than allowing a bunch of angry, hate-filled fools to an excuse to throw their tantrum? The flags they destroyed themselves are little more than cloth - or more likely cheaply printed nylon fabric - most of which were probably imported from China rather than made in the USA. The flag haters themselves, despite their protests are still angry and bitter people, and will likely remain such as long as they keep the sin of hatred in their hearts.

Meanwhile, the rest of us move on and more forward....and Old Glory and the Dixie Cross still fly in the American breeze.