Star Spangled Banner Day

I received this email today from my good friend Tricia...

Carol,
Did you know that TODAY is STAR SPANGLED BANNER DAY?? Woohoo!
And, since you and I saw THE ORIGINAL flag, being refurbished at the Smithsonian, I just couldn’t resist sending you this commemorative email!
God Bless the Red,
God Bless the Blue
God Bless America
And God Bless You!

Yes, Tricia and I got the opportunity to visit the Smithsonian and see the original American flag on one of our visits to Washington, D.C. when we were project managers for the Air Force Project for child care providers. What a fun day we had spending most of it in the various parts of the Smithsonian. My favorite building though was the American History one. Almost immediately upon entering that great building we were able to stand under the flag that had hung at the Pentagon the day of the 9/11 bombings. It was hanging so low that Tricia and I both stood on our tiptoes just to touch the edge of the flag knowing that we were touching a piece of history.

As we continued our tour, we came upon the section where the original "Star Spangled Banner" was being restored. I had never really realized how large that flag would be and was and it is quite large. Read on...

The original Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the song that would become our national anthem, is among the most treasured artifacts in the collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Quick Facts about the Star-Spangled Banner Flag:

- Made in Baltimore, Maryland, in July-August 1813 by flagmaker Mary Pickersgill
- Commissioned by Major George Armistead, commander of Fort McHenry
- Original size: 30 feet by 42 feet
- Current size: 30 feet by 34 feet
- Fifteen stars and fifteen stripes (one star has been cut out)
- Raised over Fort McHenry on the morning of September 14, 1814, to signal American victory over the British in the Battle of Baltimore; the sight inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner”
- Preserved by the Armistead family as a memento of the battle
- First loaned to the Smithsonian Institution in 1907; converted to permanent gift in 1912
- On exhibit at the National Museum of American History since 1964
- Major, multi-year conservation effort launched in 1998

We were able to observe the progress of the restoration, as well as view an exhibition about the history of the 185-year-old flag. Although the flag restoration work was conducted behind glass walls, we had a great view of the restoration taking place.

The restorers worked in a climate-controlled, pressurized lab inside the museum, inspecting, repairing and cleaning every inch of the flag, without touching it. They worked on their stomachs, from a scaffold suspended just six inches over the wool and cotton banner, which is being rolled out, a little at a time.

I remember being so excited about what I was seeing that I called Mom and Dad on my cell phone just to have them share that experience with me.