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.

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 ...