Posted on 07/04/2019 8:32:27 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too
On Flag Day, June 14, a piece of American history was saved from being lost forever.
The American Legion was holding its annual Flag Day retirement ceremony, where American flags are disposed of in a dignified manner. It was during that ceremony that Austin American Legion Post 91 Commander Roland Hanson discovered a different kind of flag.
It was kind of folded into squares instead of the traditional three-cornered fold, he recalled. I picked it up and the first thing I spotted was there were six stars down and eight stars across. I held it up and asked the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts, What do you think is wrong with this flag? They said, It looks like its in pretty good shape. Why should we burn it? I said, You dont know it, but this is a 48-star flag.
With New Mexico and Arizona reaching statehood in 1912, the 48-star flag was approved on July 4, 1912. It was the official national flag until July 3, 1959.
Hanson, a Vietnam War veteran, expressed a great deal of pride in his find.
I remember going to school and pledging allegiance to these 48 stars, he said.
While the individual or individuals who dropped off the flag may not have realized its significance, Hanson is grateful for their decision.
They disposed of it the correct way, he said. We have two bins, one at the American Legion and one at the VFW, so we can dispose of our flags with dignity instead of finding them in a garbage heap or in a road ditch.
Hanson said he plans to donate the flag to the Mower County Historical Society. He is also hoping to find a bottom part to the flag staff, possibly from a local school.
(The flag) is the kind that they used to put up by the chalkboard, he said. It has the original ball on the top, which is called a truck.
Hanson said his decision to donate the flag to the MCHS is predicated on a belief they could take the best care of it.
Our boys and girls in World War I, World War II and Korea fought for these stars, he said. Thats why I think it deserves a special place.
My in-laws have a 48 star flag, unfurled since the day it was given to their grandmother at the military funeral for their grandfather. I’ll bet there are a lot of them like that in attics around the country.
We’ve got one in pristine shape. Wife’s dad had it from WWII.
I’d like to see the American flag simplified and go back to thirteen stars for the original thirteen colonies but in a Solomon’s Seal pattern (that’s the one you see over the eagle on the back of a dollar bill), but that’s just me.
“Keep it for when California and New Jersey are kicked out of the union.”
The Betsy Ross flag will be issued in a 12 star circle version when Virginia follows California out of the union to become a Central American country with illegal aliens about to take over along with the already established black-face democrats.
I can’t, either. We have one in the hall closet.
It’s 4’x5’, I think.
I flew it a few years ago, suspended on a badminton net in the front yard.
I don’t know how rare 48-star flags are. I have one. It draped the casket of my uncle, a sailor killed in action in WWII. It’s flying outside my window as I type (I know ... in violation of flag etiquette. But the sentimental significance overrides mere protocol.)
But, but 1957! Little Rock! Woolworth lunch counter! Horror of horrors!
Oh wait, I’ve got one. Not an official government one but I do have one. It is hanging right beside my Confederate battle flag, which is deteriorating, and my Mexican flag.
I guess I am now a dirty-rat-dog-reiscis.
States cannot secede from the Union. Texas Vs White 1869.
But I don’t see anything about the states not expelling certain divisive states from the Union.
that was awhile ago- obama went to like 58 states when he toured the country
Ive now been in 57 states I think one left to go. Obama
Nike will be putting out a press release to emphasize that they will ALSO not release their 48 star shoes.
Why is a 48 star flag around for 56+ years called rare .
Rare is a 49 star flag.
Plenty of 48 star American flags at reasonable prices on eBay.
I knew that. I just wanted to vent about Pearl Harbor. ;-)
“It also was the era when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, tortured their POWs and executed them.”
And ate them. Don’t forget that they ate some.
LOL!
“Now a 49-star flag, that would be a rarity”
I loved that design. It had 7 rows of 7 stars each.
I thought Bernie would take Vermont out of the Union before New Jersey left...
My grandad has one; heavy cotton and only flies it on Flag Day.
And the Japanese did worse to Americans and Europeans living in Japan when war broke out.
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