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Gen. Mike Minihan, Commander of Air Mobility Command, visits the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station June 8, 2024.

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Flag Day 2013

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Joseph McKee
  • 914th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
NIAGARA FALLS AIR RESERVE STATION, N.Y. --  On June 14, Americans celebrate the adoption of the first national flag.

Also known as the "Stars and Stripes" or "Old Glory," the first American flag was approved by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777.

In 1818, after five more states joined the Union Congress passed legislation fixing the number of stripes at 13 and requiring that the number of stars equal the number of states.

Today there are 50 stars on the American flag and 13 stripes that stand for the original 13 colonies.

It is not certain who made the first flag, but credit is often given to Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress, who was an official flag maker for the Pennsylvania Navy.

The Pledge of Allegiance:  "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."