That same year, the Peabody Essex also sent its Old Glory to the Smithsonian. But the museum chose to regard Roland’s flag as the more important one: It was directly descended from Driver ...

One reverently carries Old Glory, precisely folded to reveal only the stars. On the command of a bearded “drill sergeant,” the flag is raised on a pole hacked from a tall tree trunk.

Until the Executive Order of June 24, 1912, neither the order of the stars nor the proportions of the flag was prescribed. Consequently, flags dating before this period sometimes show unusual ...

June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress issued a resolution making the Stars and Stripes the nation's flag. Enjoy a little red, white, and blue from across the Smithsonian. Visit the O Say Can You See ...