Design Your Own Flag Craft
June 13, 2020On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress officially adopted the flag of the United States, agreeing that “the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” Though the number of stars and the pattern of that constellation have been altered through the years, their meaning has not changed. In fact, most flags that exist today are designed to signify something about the place or people that they represent. Often these can be a shared history, culture, or religion, which people express through their choices in flag colors and shapes.
If you were creating a flag to represent where you live, what would it look like? Download our printable PDF worksheet and instructions below to learn what some of the symbols mean and then create a flag of your own.
Share your finished flag with the Museum @amrevmuseum on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Explore more Revolutionary-era flags, including the Monmouth Flag and the Forster Flag, throughout the Museum's galleries any time with our free Virtual Museum Tour.
Flag Day Weekend with the Museum, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance, includes an interview with textile conservator Virginia Whelan on the conversation and symbols in Revolutionary-era flags as well as a live flag-making demonstration and discussion of the Monmouth and Forster flag's messages and meanings with the Museum's Gallery Interpretation Manager Tyler Putman.
Plus, learn more about whether the American flag was a symbol of unity or dissent at its Revolutionary origins.