In honor of Flag Day , we thought it was time you knew the truth : Everything you know about how the star and stripes come to be crafted may be a lie .
The Betsy Ross story we all grew up with did n’t even come to light until about 100 years after the fact , when Ross ’ grandson , William Canby , demo the Historical Society of Pennsylvania with aresearch paperthat said his nanna had sewn the flag . The problem with the inquiry paper , other than it being 100 year belated , was that it salute no hard evidence . The only thing Canby had to hold his claim wereaffidavitsfrom kin members .
The traditional Ross taradiddle give-up the ghost something like this : Ross was man her sewing shop one mean solar day when her late husband ’s uncle , a Congressman from Pennsylvania , go in her shop . He was attach to by Commander - in - Chief George Washington . They said they represented a commission of Congress that had been tasked with creating a new fleur-de-lis , and asked if Ross would be up to the undertaking . Though she had never made a flag before , Rossagreed , and even give way on to puzzle out with Washington personally in the back front room of her family . Together , they review pattern and she suggested modifications , such as switching the stars to have five points alternatively of six .
It ’s a great tale , one that has last for more than 150 yr now . But historians doubt its truth . First of all , if there had been a congressional flag commission — and there ’s no evidence there was — Washington would n’t have been part of it , since he was n’t a member of Congress . Second , the first record Congress has of addressing the flag issue at all doesn’tappearuntil 1777 . And finally , there ’s absolutely zero documentation showing that Washington had any fundamental interaction with Betsy Ross at all — and we ’re talking about a man who keptmeticulousfinancial records .
All that being state , we do n’t actually have anything thatdisprovesthat Ross made the flag . Shedidmake flags during that time flow — but were several other seamstresses in Philadelphia , includingRebecca Flower Young , who also made theGrand Unionflag . Unfortunately , unless a long - lose reception or diary is uncovered in someone ’s attic , we ’ll probably never experience for sure how involved Ross actually was in sewing the first American flag .
