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6 stripes represent the continents 7 stripes represent the seas?

Originally Posted by sal3033

Just puzzled, when I was a kid growing up, I remember in grammar school
, a teacher had once said that the 6 stripes represent the continents,
7 stripes represent the seas, is this true??? Salvatore

Hi, Salvatore,

I think your teacher was just trying to help you remember how many stripes of each color there were. I can find no written record of the number of the stripes of each color having any meaning other than that there are 13 stripes so if you have two colors there are naturally going to be six stripes of one color and seven stripes of the other color.

People have tried to attach all sorts of meanings to the colors used in the flag. In the 1970s, Congress said the stars reflect the heavens and the divine goal of all humans, while the stripes are a symbol of the rays of the sun.

Talking about the Seal of the United States, Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress said white represented purity and innocence, red was for hardiness and valor, while blue stodd for vigilance, perseverance and justice. These meanings were not considered when the flag itself was developed, but they still sound good to me.

Sarah

Each star represents a state , 50 stars = 50 states . The thirten stripes represent the original 13 colonies .