As I have pledged allegiance to our nation’s flag at various events, I have often wondered why we call our flag “Old Glory.” After a brief travel across the internet, I discover several interesting facts regarding “Old Glory” that I want to share with you today. One thing you might not realize is that there is a question mark after each sentence except one in the first verse of our national anthem.

The original flag that was called “Old Glory” was owned by William Driver, a New England sea captain. On March 17, 1824, his mother, along with several young ladies in Salem, Mass., sewed a larger American flag measuring 12 feet-by-24 feet with 24 stars.

When it was hoisted up and unfurled on his ship, he was asked what he thought of it. He declared, “God bless you, I’ll call it ‘Old Glory.’” Captain Driver was a passionate patriot and flew the flag on all occasions. When the Confederate army took over Tennessee in 1860, he decided to keep it safe by having his wife and daughter mend it.

They sewed additional stars on the flag to bring the number to 34. Then they arranged the stars so there was space enough in the lower right-hand corner of the blue canton for Capt. Driver to applique a small white anchor.

The flag was then quilted inside a bed comforter for safekeeping until after the Civil War. When the Union Army took Nashville, Tenn., Capt. Driver offered the flag to be flown over the state capitol building. Escorted by members of the military, he went to his home, ripped open the comforter and gave the flag to the escorts.

The story intrigued the public, and from that time on, our flag became known as “Old Glory.” When his daughter visited him shortly before he passed away, he placed a small bundle into her arms and said, “Mary Jane, this is my ship flag, ‘Old Glory.’ It has been my constant companion. I love it as a mother loves her child. Cherish it as I have cherished it.”

Capt. Driver died on March 2, 1886 in Nashville. The flag remained in the Driver family until 1922, when the family sent it to the Smithsonian Institution where it remains preserved under glass. So, the next time you pledge allegiance to the flag, just remember that it has survived many storms and battles over the years, but thank God, it still flies o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Pledge of Allegiance:

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America And to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, Indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” The Star Spangled Banner (first verse)“Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,’ O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

Email Betty Heath at begeheath690@aol.com.