Happy Independence Day! This is my favorite holiday of the year! I choose to celebrate sprit of the United States and the Declaration of Independence, which was signed on this day 248 years ago today.
- All humans are created equal. No one person or group of people is better than another.
- All humans are endowed unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
To celebrate this day, I have several flags flying and hanging.
The large flag hanging from the house is a 15 by 25 foot 50 star United States flag that ably served an organization for many years. It was replaced and I was given the honor of caring for this beauty.
Hanging from the garage are, from left to right, the Fremont Flag, the Bennington Flag, the Grand Union Flag, and the Betsy Ross Flag.
THe Fremont flag is the personal standard of General John Fremont, who explored the west in the 1840’s. History has taught me the General Fremont isn’t a person who I choose to revere, but I think his flag is a striking example of a beautify variant on the flag of the United States.
The history of the Bennington Flag is disputed, but I like the design because it celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, it uses seven pointed stars, and it is one of the only United States flag variants that has white stripes on the top and bottom, rather than the traditional red.
The Grand Union flag was used by American forces during the revolutionary war as the first flag to unify the troops and naval forces fighting against the British. This flag served the united colonies from January 1776 through the adoption of the “New Constellation” on June 14, 1777. Strangely enough, this flag was also used by the British East India Company.
On June 14, 1777, Congress adopted a resolution stating, “Resolved, that the Flag of the thirteen United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation.”
Another Betsy Ross flag, previously owned by the man who got me interested in vexillology, John Alvis, flies from my flag pole.
Flying on Mr. Alvis’s flag pole is the fifteen star, fifteen stripe design that was the flag of our nation from May 1, 1795 – July 3, 1818. This design was the famous Star Spangled Banner which inspired Francis Scott Key to write our national anthem.
Cruesbreck Flags 