Friday, June 21, 2013

Day 146, June 21

Legend gives credit to Betsy Ross for fashioning the first American flag.  However, facts support the creator of the first flag as Francis Hopkinson, a professional artist and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Hopkinson submitted a formal bill to Congress requesting payment of $7,200 for his work in designing the official flag.  The bill was never paid.

The Betsy Ross legend maintains that on a June afternoon in 1776, three men came to her shop where she worked as a seamstress.  One of the men was George Washington.  They explained they wanted an American Flag to replace the state banners carried by the Revolutionary soldiers.

General Washington is said to have shown Betsy Ross a rough sketch, a square banner with 13 stripes of wed and white, and 13 starts acattered across a blue field.

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