If there’s one thing Americans like, it’s a good flag. We’ve certainly had our fair share over the years.
The folks at Pop Chart Lab were kind enough to condense nearly 250 years of the American flags into a single poster, beginning with the Sons of Liberty’s 1767 banner to today’s familiar 50-star pattern.
This, however, likely isn’t all the flags used to represent the United States over the many decades, as the poster jumps from 1877, when there were 37 states, to 1912, when there were 48 states.
Given the concept of adding a star for each state in the Union, one supposes that the flag was altered every time a new state – or perhaps group of states (six were admitted between Nov. 2, 1889, and July 10, 1890, for example) was admitted – which would seemingly have resulted in other versions of the flag during the years in between.
Or perhaps the US government was so hell-bent on expansion that they simply decided to wait until they had filled in all the space between Canada and Mexico before coming up with the 48-star design in 1912.
Personally, I’m partial to the Gadsden Flag, although it’s pretty much been co-opted by the Tea Party rabble, the Moultrie Flag, which closely resembles today’s South Carolina flag, and the Green Mountain Boys Flag. Old, but interesting.
(HT: Fast Company)