American Flag 10-22-09

Almost immediately, you should know what this is. This is the American Stars and Stripes flag.

This flag has been the symbol of this country for over 200 years. But what does it signify?

Some of us know that the stars symbolize all the states in the union. Some of us also know that the stripes are the original 13 colonies. But what do the colors of the flag mean, and how do they represent us as a country?

First, we'll start with red.

Red, according to Wikipedia and three-musketeers.net, symbolizes passion, aggression, and blood, which some of the original colonists have shed for their freedom from the British.

Red may also symbolize "leadership, conservatism (North America)*, and democracy (USA)*"("Red", Wikipedia).

Now, we will move on to white.

White, also according to Wikipedia and three-musketeers.net, stands for purity and good, which means they want to stand for justice and freedom towards all, because they believe that that is a good thing.

Finally, we will analyze the color blue.

Blue, according to three-musketeers.net, stands for stability and security.

According to Wikipedia, it also symbolizes capitalism, universal conservatism, and liberalism in the US.

How accurate my analysis is depends on what other people say about the flag. According to Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, via usflag.org, when he referred to the Great Seal, which had the same colors as the flag:

"The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue, the color of the Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice."(Charles Thompson, USFlag.org)

Turns out the colors aren't too far off.

Works Cited:

"Blue -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 22 Oct. 2009. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue].

"Red -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 22 Oct. 2009. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red].

"Symbolism: Colors." Three-musketeers.net -- Fun Stuff For the Web. Web. 22 Oct. 2009. [http://www.three-musketeers.net/mike/colors.html].

"USFlag.org: A website dedicated to the Flag of the United States of America - What do the colors of the Flag mean?" USFlag.org: A website dedicated to the Flag of the United States of America. Web. 22 Oct. 2009. [http://www.usflag.org/colors.html].

"White -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 22 Oct. 2009. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White].