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Stripes and Bright Stars

June 14, 2013

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Profile America -- Friday, June 14th. This is Flag Day -- marking the date in 1777 when John Adams proposed the stars and stripes as the official flag of the United States. By the War of 1812, the national flag had accumulated 15 stars and 15 red and white stripes. It was the sight of that flag still flying -- o'er the ramparts of Fort McHenry in Baltimore -- after an overnight bombardment that inspired Francis Scott Key to write a poem, which became the words of the national anthem. That flag is back on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Making flags, banners, and pennants, among other miscellaneous textile products, is a nearly $5 billion annual business in the U.S. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: www.smithsonianmag.com, History and Archaeology
2007 Economic Census, NAICS 314999
http://www.census.gov/econ/industry/hierarchy/i314999.htm