Not Betsy Ross

[EmailPoster]

Not Betsy Ross

Hi,

I am a college student now and like many high school student I was relentless on finding out who and where the first flag was created. I am glad to report, that my research yielded great result, and one that is also disturbing.

Every student learns that Betsy Ross is the woman behind the flag. But the Smithsonian Institute begs to differ, and I just stumbled upon your site and I think it would be a great idea to check them out too. The information they will provide you will definetely make you change the "Betsy" on your site.

Thanks,

Alphonse


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[sarahw]

Alphonse,

The history of the American flag is riddled with characters taking credit for things they might never have done, where the people who really should have gotten credit were almost lost to history. I guess that's the way with a lot of history, isn't it?

But it's wrong to say Betsy Ross doesn't have a place in the story. That Smithsonian page you talk about is referencing who made the "Star Spangled Banner," meaning the actual flag that flew over Fort McHenry that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the song that became our national anthem. Betsy Ross didn't make that flag, Mary Pickersgill did.

She was commissioned by Fort McHenry to make two flags for the fort, one of which was flying over the fort in 1814 when Key was inspired to write "The Star Spangled Banner."

That doesn't mean that Betsy Ross had nothing to do with designing the original flag that became the official flag of the United States on June 14, 1777 (that's the reason June 14 is Flag Day, by the way). Ross told her children and grandchildren that she was visited by a secret committee that sought to have a national flag designed.

The concept for the new flag was said to be George Washington's, but Betsy changed the star design from a six-pointed star to a five-pointed one because she could cut them out with one snip.

Not everyone believes that Betsy Ross designed or even sewed the first flag. Another theory holds that Francis Hopkinson, a New Jersey congressman, actually designed the flag, though his design had the stars staggered like they are on today's flag instead of in a circle as they are on what is known as the "Betsy Ross" flag.

Even if Hopkinson designed the flag, no one knows who actually stitched it. This is one of those legends that is never going to die until there's some kind of definitive evidence who actually stitched the flag.

Sarah