{"id":1002,"date":"2014-03-27T10:00:06","date_gmt":"2014-03-27T14:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=1002"},"modified":"2024-06-17T13:17:06","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T17:17:06","slug":"old-glory-when-it-was-young","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/old-glory-when-it-was-young\/","title":{"rendered":"Old Glory when it was young"},"content":{"rendered":"

It flew at Yorktown when the American Revolution<\/a> ended. It flapped at Gettysburg in November 1863, when Abraham Lincoln spoke his memorable words. It\u2019s Old Glory.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"William<\/a>
William Driver<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Well, yes \u2013 and no. The term \u201cOld Glory\u201d has become synonymous with \u201cAmerican flag<\/span><\/a>\u201d and \u201cthe Stars and Stripes.\u201d Originally, however, Old Glory was not a generic term. Rather, it was the name of a specific banner that belonged to William Driver, a shipmaster from Salem, Massachusetts. He nicknamed it and flew it on his brig as he sailed the globe.<\/span><\/p>\n

In February 1862, it was with him at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, when the Civil War came to town. Driver flung his flag to the breeze as northern troops marched into the city and restored it to the Union. As he said in a newspaper article that appeared throughout the nation, he \u201ccarried my flag, \u2018Old Glory,\u2019\u2026to the Capitol [and]hoisted it with my own hands\u2026over this proud city, amid the Heaven-shaking cheers of thousands.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Old<\/a>
Old Glory atop Nashville’s Capitol<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Prior to the liberation of the city, Driver noted, he had been \u201ctreated with scorn and shunned as one infected with the leprous spot.\u201d The raising of his flag, he crowed, supplanted \u201cthe fluttering of Treason\u2019s hated banner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After Driver\u2019s account of Old Glory\u2019s rising above Nashville was published in newspapers throughout the North, he quickly became a celebrity. The best measure of his fame was his meeting in August 1862 with Lincoln at the White House.<\/span><\/p>\n

The shipmaster who was bold enough to withstand Tennesseans\u2019 demands that he surrender his flag was cheeky enough to tell the president that he was lagging behind the sentiments of his people.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you let the governors of the Northern States take this matter in hand,\u201d he instructed Lincoln, \u201cthe rebellion will be put down in a short time. They demand more energy of you, Mr. President, and your generals.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Old<\/a>
Old Glory at Smithsonian Institution<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In reply, Old Abe assured the owner of Old Glory that the war was going well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to Driver\u2019s use of \u201cOld Glory,\u201d no one used that phrase. As far as research can tell, he coined the term, and it referred only to his flag, which was made for him by a group of women, including his mother.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than 150 years later, the expression has become a common way to describe every American flag.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It flew at Yorktown when the American Revolution ended. It flapped at Gettysburg in November 1863, when Abraham Lincoln spoke his memorable words. It\u2019s Old Glory. Well, yes \u2013 and no. The term \u201cOld Glory\u201d has become synonymous with \u201cAmerican flag\u201d and \u201cthe Stars and Stripes.\u201d Originally, however, Old Glory was not a generic term…. continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,3,151],"class_list":["post-1002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-american-flag","tag-history","tag-old-glory"],"yoast_head":"\nOld Glory when it was young - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/old-glory-when-it-was-young\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Old Glory when it was young - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It flew at Yorktown when the American Revolution ended. It flapped at Gettysburg in November 1863, when Abraham Lincoln spoke his memorable words. It\u2019s Old Glory. Well, yes \u2013 and no. 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