Quizzes

Fourth of July Quiz

By Delphine Hirasuna | July 3, 2015July 28, 2015

The flag gate, above, was created for the 1876 American Centennial, and is now housed in the American Folk Art Museum in New York.

In honor of America’s Independence Day, also know as the Fourth of July, we have created a brief quiz to test your knowledge of Stars & Stripes history. For those of our readers not based in the U.S., we will handicap you two free answers. Good luck! Happy Fourth.

1. Who designed the American flag?
a. George Washington
b. Betsy Ross
c. Thomas Jefferson
d. Francis Hopkinson

2. The Star Spangled Banner, America’s most famous flag, has how many stars and stripes?

a. 13 stars and 13 stripes
b. 15 stars and 13 Stripes
c. 15 stars and 15 stripes
d. 18 stars and 13 stripes

3. What year was the Stars and Stripes adopted by Congress?

a. 1775
b. 1776
c. 1777
c. 1778

4. Is it illegal to burn the American flag?

a. Yes
b. No
c. On occasion

5. On what date are new stars added to the flag?

a. January 1, after a states’ admission to the Union
b. June 14, after a states’ admission to the Union
c. July 4, after a states’ admission to the Union

6. How many stars are on the flag that has flown the longest over the United States?

a. 48 stars
b. 36 stars
c. 50 stars
c. 13 stars

Answers below…
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Brand Language

How Not to Brand a Country, but Succeed Anyway

By Delphine Hirasuna | July 1, 2011September 4, 2014

The occasion of America’s Independence Day on July 4th offers a good time to reflect on how the Star-Spangled Banner became the official flag of the nation. It all started back in 1777. A ragtag army of American colonists was engaged in a fierce battle for independence from Great Britain. Designing an aesthetically pleasing flag to represent themselves was the last thing on their mind. Outnumbered, outspent and outmaneuvered, the Continental Congress had more urgent matters to deal with.

But an emissary from a pro-colonist Native American tribe forced Congress to act by requesting a banner of sorts to display so that scouts would not come under “friendly fire” while on missions for the Continental Army. To prove they were willing to “pay” for such a flag, the emissary included three strings of wampum. Congress hastily put a flag design on its agenda, and 11 days later: “RESOLVED: that the flag of the United states be 13 stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be 13 stars, white in a blue field representing a new constellation.” This resolution was one of many passed that day. The committee obviously didn’t give the matter much thought, but “borrowed” liberally from several sources, including the Sons of Liberty red-and-white “stripes of rebellion” banner and the 13-star blue canton of the New Hampshire Green Mountain Boys and Rhode Island Continental Regiment.