What Does The American Flag Mean To Me?

Freedom. Justice. History. The flag of the United States has a different
meaning to it for every person. Whether it’s just standing up in class everyday
at school and saying the Pledge of Allegiance or if we really have respect for our
countries flag. When you say the Pledge of Allegiance, do you really mean what you
say? Do you even think about the words that are coming out of your mouth? While I
was thinking about what to write for this essay, these questions got me thinking.

What does the flag really mean? What was the purpose of it being made?
I’ve always wondered why they chose the colors red, white, and blue to use in
the flag and why only thirteen red and white stripes? I learned that the stripes
represent the original thirteen colonies. Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina,
Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. There was an issue when two new
states, Kentucky and Vermont, were added to the Union. They were debating
whether to add two more stars and stripes to the flag or not. The result was that they
did end up added the two new states onto the flag. Later, they noticed that for
every new state that was made, they would have to add a new star and a stripe.

Someone finally suggested that we change the stripes back to thirteen to represent
the first thirteen states that the United States admitted in our country. They would
only add a star or each new state admitted. That was successfully followed
through. We now have thirteen stripes and fifty stars on the flag.

I think that the history of the flag and what the symbols are really important to
knowing what the flag represents. Many people may disagree with me and think that
the history isn’t the most important fact to know about the flag. Maybe you may think
that it is all about who made the flag, if what the Pledge of Allegiance means, or what
the flag was made for in the first place. Maybe you even think about what the Star-
Spangled Banner really talks about when you sing it. These are all important things
to think and know about. The flag is really valuable and should be respected by
every citizen.