“How’dja like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island?” Those are the opening lyrics to an old pop song, sung by crooner Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters in the 1940s, folk artist Leon Redbone more recently, and even Jimmy Buffet. But none of them performed it while waving the Christmas Island flag. They’re both real… continue
Most flags consist only of symbols, but about one-third of U.S. states have added something extra. Among others, California, Kansas, Montana and Washington let everyone know who they are by spelling out their name on their flags. Idaho is another example, but it also has a one-of-a-kind distinction. Its state seal, which is part of… continue
By James Breig Have you ever listened to a flag? For more than two centuries, Americans have seen them. Whether large and flying smartly in the wind from a mast on the U.S.S. Constitution…or medium-sized and carried proudly by soldiers during the Battle of Gettysburg…or small and waved enthusiastically by families at a Fourth of… continue
The ongoing sesquicentennial of the Civil War is leading, inexorably, to the 150th anniversary of the 1865 assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, who died within days of the surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, Virginia. Flags played a role at both the beginning of the war and in the death of Lincoln. In… continue