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Public Domain, American Flag, Old Glory, Red White Blue, Stars & Stripes, The Star Spangled Banner
Image by Beverly & Pack
This image is ineligible for copyright and therefore in the public domain, because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship.
The flag of the United States consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of Red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars. The fifty stars on the flag represent the fifty U.S. states and the thirteen stripes represent the original thirteen colonies that rebelled against the British Crown and became the first states in the Union. Nicknames for the flag include the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, and The Star-Spangled Banner (also the name of the national anthem).
Symbolism
The flag of the United States is one of the nation's most widely recognized symbols. Within the U.S. it is frequently displayed, not only on public buildings, but on private residences. It is also used as a motif on decals for car windows, and clothing ornaments such as badges and lapel pins. Throughout the world it is used in public discourse to refer to the U.S., both as a nation state, government, and set of policies, but also as an ideology and set of ideas.
Many understand the flag to represent the national government established in the U.S. Constitution the rights of the citizens promised in the Bill of Rights, and perhaps most of all to be a symbol of individual and personal liberty as set forth in the Declaration of Independence. The flag is a complex and contentious symbol, around which emotions run high.
Apart from the numbers of stars and stripes representing the number of current and original states, respectively, and the union with its stars representing a constellation, there is no legally defined symbolism to the colors and shapes on the flag. However, folk theories and traditions abound; for example, that the stripes refer to rays of sunlight and that the stars refer to the heavens, the highest place that a person could aim to reach.
Hurricane Irene over the eastern United States
Image by NASA Goddard Photo and Video
NASA satellite image of Hurricane Irene captured on August 27, 2011 at 18:50 UTC (2:50 p.m. EDT) over the eastern United States.
NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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