Article Written By: taamiv
Many of you may not know about the historical fact that the old nickname used to refer to the flag of United States is, Old Glory. It was given by William Drive, a nineteenth century American sea captain. We can say it in this way also that the term is used particularly for the flag owned by the William Driver, which has now become the most valued historical artifacts of the United States.The Old Glory was crafted by William Driver s his mother and few other Massachusetts women. His mother handed over this flag to him somewhere around 1820s. It is a huge flag with a size of 10 x 17square feet and was then made from some heavy material to stand the fluttering while lifted over a ship s mast.In accordance with the design commonly used those days, it also had 24 stars, symbolizing the nautical orientation. It also had a tiny anchor sewn in the corner of its blue portion.William Driver was very pleased to receive that gift and always kept it under his possession. The Old Glory was the title given to the flag by the Captain himself, when he was leaving the harbor for tour around the world as commander of the vessel Charles Doggett in 1831, according to the some historical evidences. During the entire course of voyage, the Old Glory remained the official flag of the ship. During the prolonged course of the voyage, the weathering effects frayed the ends of the flag and we can see the proofs of patching at several points of time on it.Captain Driver, while returning from the sea, stayed at the Nashville, Tennessee in 1837. During his voyage, Captain Driver used to flow his loved flag in all major historical occasions, with the help of a rope tied across the street. The flag was tailored to display 34 stars to represent the number of states then in the Union in 1861.The Civil War was erupted in 1861 and the Tennessee fell back from the Union. During that time, Captain Driver had some concern that the ally would try to confiscate and burn the Old Glory. Here an interesting historical account which rarely found in the chronicles states that the Driver with the help of some neighboring girls sewed the flag into a cushion or a pillow, in order to save it.A year later, when the Union came to repossess the Nashville, Driver went out to lift the Old Glory again from the State Capitol Spire. At that time, the 6th Ohio Regiment – a unit of Federal troops, was also present there. The commander of that regiment adopted the Old glory as their motto. These are the few chronological events, which relate the historical importance of this flag in the United States and perhaps are the sole contributors in declaring it as a national asset.
This Article Has Been Published on Thu, 2 Dec 2010 and Read 121 Times