The state of New Jersey, the city of Trenton and Rutgers University boast flags of great appeal and historical interest. RUTGERS The design of Rutgers University’s flag, with its large “R” and date of 1766, was approved in 1965, just a year before the bicentennial of the institution’s founding. This year marks the school’s 250th… continue
Firefighters, like other Americans, love flags, but that doesn’t mean they’re always ready to rescue one. As an example, take the curious case of a banner that flew away a century ago. An American flag outside the Grand Army of the Republic post in Springfield, Massachusetts, was blown off its mast by a strong windstorm… continue
Uncle Sam’s gravesite, located at Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, N.Y., has a new 40-foot flagpole and a fresh American flag to go with it, thanks to a windstorm and Gettysburg Flag Works of East Greenbush. The installation is perfectly timed: 2016 marks the 150th anniversary of Uncle Sam’s birth. Oakwood describes itself as “one of… continue
The British author Rudyard Kipling liked flags, but not Utah. The state doesn’t care because, for one thing, it’s more interested in marking the 120th anniversary of its entry into the United States on Jan. 4, 1896. It’s also interested in its state flag, which was wrong for years. Kipling wrote a poem titled “The… continue
“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