History Lessons

Windy City flutters many flags

Chicago's city flag. (Chicago Public Library)

Chicago is known as the Windy City, and its unique history of flags – from a poet who was intensely interested in them to a football stadium that honors veterans – has given those breezes plenty of cloth to play with. The poet, Wallace Rice, was born in 1860, the year another Illinois resident, Abraham… continue

Flag Information

An American Flag Timeline

The United States flag has changed 63 times over the past 235 years. As the original thirteen colonies established their presence in America, they started to develop new designs that would represent their loyalty and unity. The modern American flag has evolved to symbolize freedom, justice, and prosperity. Most modern Americans would not recognize some of the… continue

History Lessons

How Wright and Whistler flew and drew flags

Wright flies around flag on Statue of Liberty island in 1909. (Library of Congress)

Wilbur Wright, the 20th-century co-inventor of the airplane, and James McNeill Whistler, the 19th-century painter, seem unlikely candidates to have a connection to flags. But, if you have sharp vision, you can see that they do. WRIGHT’S DARING FLIGHT On October 4, 1909, Wright took off from Governor’s Island in the Hudson River near Manhattan…. continue

Flag Information

Air National Guard History – Part 4

Air National Guard Flag

FORGING THE AIR NATIONAL GUARD Read more of this series Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 A vast gulf separated the conclusions of Air Force and Air Guard leaders about the lessons of the Berlin mobilization. The former failed to recognize immediately the constraints which obsolescent aircraft, inadequate funding and incomplete manning as well as… continue

History Lessons

Fire stations famously fly flags

A modern Slackwood fire helment.

More than a century ago, the dedication of a firehouse in New Jersey was a major extravaganza, complete with – as a newspaper headlined – “New Fire House, New Fire Engine, New Flag and Big Time.” On the first Saturday in August 1907, the citizens of Slackwood, N.J., gathered to celebrate the completion of the… continue