The reverence for Old Glory that inspired Flag Day arose decades after Betsy Ross sewed her first
June 12, 2025
The reverence for Old Glory that inspired Flag Day came decades after the lifetime of the woman often credited with sewing the first United States national flag. Betsy Ross may have been puzzled by the annual celebrations each year on June 14. The reverence is a product of the Civil War when the Union army used flags to show soldiers how they should move on the battlefield. The men performed fatal heroics to keep the flags aloft. A 1949 federal law designated Flag Day to honor the date in 1777 on which the Continental Congress approved the first national flag design. But local observances started as early as 1885.
