for future reference. amazing how things that aren't true, become true by virtue of popularity.

DesMoinesRegister.com: "Flag facts
I read William Petroski's Dec. 12 article, 'Inmates at the Mitchellville Women's Prison Assemble Flags That Wave Over the Land of the Free,' with interest, because my book on the history of the American flag will be published June 1 by Thomas Dunne Books at St. Martin's Press.

May I offer a correction? The article says: 'More than 200 years ago, Betsy Ross helped to sew the first American flag for the Revolutionary Army.'

First, there is no credible evidence that Betsy Ross either helped to sew or that she sewed the first American flag. The Betsy Ross story is a myth, first promulgated in 1870 by a grandson and is based solely on family stories - although she was a seamstress in Philadelphia and did make flags.

Second, the Stars and Stripes was not flown by the Revolutionary Army. Aside from regimental flags, the American Army during the Revolutionary War occasionally flew the Continental Colors, also known as the Grand Union flag, a flag with 13 stripes and the British Union Jack in the canton. All of the paintings that show the Army flying the Stars and Stripes, including 'Washington Crossing the Delaware,' are incorrect. The U.S. Army did not adopt the Stars and Stripes until the Mexican War.
-Marc Leepson,

Middleburg, Va."