The American flag wasn't always revered as it is today. At the beginning, it was an afterthought

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. ‘AN AFTERTHOUGHT’ “The flag was really an afterthought,” says Scot Guenter, author of “The American Flag, 1777-1924” and a professor emeritus of American Studies at San Jose State University. Congress passed its first flag act on June 14, 1777: “Resolved, that the Flag of the thirteen United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation.” But the flag is otherwise peripheral to the country's beginnings. LEGEND OUTWEIGHS FACT The Ross House bills itself as “the birthplace of the American Flag,” but its origins are uncertain. “And curtains are the kind of job that Betsy would have taken on.” As the country grew more nationalized and nationalistic, Ross was added to the early pantheon and the flag's presence expanded like so much territory across the continent — into state ceremonies and buildings, sporting events, schools and private homes.