July 4, 2021 – Independence Day

Today is the 245th anniversary of the United States becoming an independent nation. For the past two and a half centuries, the people of the United States have striven to recognize the self-evident truths that, “…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” We are a work in progress and and I believe that we will continue to improve as the years go by. For more details on my thoughts on the context of Independence Day in our current national debate, please see the post Independence Day 2020 on my other blog.

Today, I have the flags of twenty eight states hung on my home, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. On the my flag pole is the current flag of the United States, which was flown over the US Capitol on May 14, 2000. On Mr. Alvis’s flag pole is his Betsy Ross flag, the first flag of the United States, which represented a new constellation. This flag was in use from June 14, 1777 through May 1, 1795. Hanging on the house is the Star Spangled Banner, which has fifteen star and fifteen stripes and was the flag of the United States from May 1, 1795 through July 3, 1818. I also have the 49 Star United States flag, which was in use from July 4, 1959 through July 3, 1960.

On the porch and on the wall of the garage are the flags of 28 states, from Alaska to Wyoming. I’ve visited each of these states and many of the flags have a story. I won’t bore you with all of them today, but I will list the flags for you in alphabetical order:

• Alaska
• Arizona
• California
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oregon
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wyoming

I also have hung the flags of the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Also flying is the personal standard of John C. Fremont, which is one of my favorite US flag variants.

One of our nation’s mottoes is E Pluribus Unum, meaning “From Many, One.” Our state flag show some of the diversity of our nation and hanging these flags beings me a bit of joy on this strange Independence Day of 2021.

Happy Independence Day!