Ocean State Libraries

The thirteen-stripe, fifty-star flag is as familiar an American icon as any that has existed in the nation's history. Yet the history of the flag, especially its origins, is cloaked in myth and misinformation. Flag: An American Biography rectifies that situation by presenting a lively, comprehensive, illuminating look at the history of the American flag from its beginnings to today. Journalist and historian Marc Leepson uncovers scores of little-known,...

A photographic essay about flags from countries all over the world and such special flags as signal flags for ships and boats, flags for special festivals and sports, political flags and coatsof arms. Also includes information about the meaning of shapesand colors on flags.

Born the eighth of seventeen children in Philadelphia, Betsy Ross lived in a time when the American colonies were yearning for independence from British rule. Ross worked as a seamstress and was eager to contribute to the cause, making tents and repairing uniforms when the colonies declared war. By 1779 she was filling cartridges for the Continental Army. Did she sew the first flag? That's up for debate, but "Who Was Betsy Ross?" tells the story of...