Lexi
Happy almost-end-of-winter e-friends! Spring starts officially on March 20 and I am so excited to hoist my new stars and stripes as soon as the weather turns a bit warmer. This is an exciting year, after all. Not only is it a Presidential Election Year, it is the Year of the Rat and a Leap Year! Not exactly common stuff – lol.
So, all the anticipation of the approaching season has me thinking about our beautiful flag, Old Glory.Why do I love it so much? Even though I am partial to shades of red and blue this season (did you see the fabulous NY fashion week collections?), it’s not the color….it’s the same reason I get excited every spring and anytime someone starts talking about the United States flag.
Those 13 stripes and 50 stars sewn together in harmony are more than an ever-present American icon. Our U.S. flag and the ideas that made it make everything possible for us today – even this blog.
Did you ever consider that no U.S. flag would mean that we never agreed on a common symbol? It would mean that even after the bloodshed and sacrifice of the American Revolutionary War, there was still no symbolic unity. Alas, that is a dark thought. For us Americans, of course there was. And every time I see her flying (yes her – I’m a modern girl – lol), I am so proud of all that built America – the greatest cultural melting pot in the world.
So, what made her? How exactly did the idea become tangible – fabric cut into 13 perfect stripes and 50 stars? Well,the first thing you should understand is that it took some time. But in this great media age of broadband and M-Commerce, let me give you the skinny:
June 14, 1777 – The Continental Congress passes the first Flag Act: “Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.”
January 13, 1794 – adjustments are made for 15 stripes and 15 stars after May 1795.
Act of April 4, 1818 – President Monroe makes accommodations for 13 stripes and one star for each state, to be added to the flag on the 4th of July following the admission of each new state.
June 24, 1912 - President Taft signs an Executive Order to establish proportions of the flag and provide for arrangement of the stars in six horizontal rows of eight each, a single point of each star to be upward.
January 3, 1959 - President Eisenhower signs for an executive order for the arrangement of the stars in seven rows of seven stars each, staggered horizontally and vertically.
August 21, 1959 President Eisenhower signs for an executive order for the arrangement of the stars in nine rows of stars staggered horizon tally and eleven rows of stars staggered vertically.
K – gotta run. All of this patriotic fervor has me hungry for a hot dog. Now I’m thinking of July 4th and all that it encompasses, but I’ll save that for a later blog.
Until Next Time e-Friends.
Lexi, aka “Ms. Vexi”
PS – if you don’t know what buzzword I’m going for with my “Vexi” alias check out this wiki article on “vexillology” and my alias might make a bit more sense. TTYS!
Posted by Lexi the Vexillologist 
