Famous American Flags: “Old Glory” Marks It’s 182nd Birthday
In the modern lexicon, “Old Glory” has become a colorful way of referring to the American flag. But there is one original Old Glory and it’s still in existence today. The giant 10′x 17′ American flag currently resides at the Tennessee State Museum, on loan from the Smithsonian.
It was originally made for William Driver, a young sea captain from Massachusetts who was so overcome with the beauty of his new flag that he dubbed it “Old Glory,” and continued to refer to it by that name for the remainder of his life.
After his wife died in 1837, he moved to Nashville wher he flew the flag on national holidays and his birthday until the Civil War forced him to hide it. According to legend, Driver sewed the flag into a quilt where it remained until Union troops eventually marched into Nashville.
“Old Glory” today has 33 stars, the number of stars on the American flag at the outbreak of the Civil War, but it originally had just 24. The flag was last updated in 1860 and features a ship’s anchor in the corner of the canton.