What Does Our Flag Mean? (1967)

[Music] [Applause] [Music] this is Billy green what's he watching for well he's seen it whatever it is is he running away I should say not here he comes again but now he's with his friends and here's the reason for the excitement the Kim family Susie Kim and her mother and father were not born in our country but today they're going to become citizens of the United States the children have planned something special for them when they get back of course Susie and her family don't know about the surprise the children are planning all right now you'll find out what the surprise is look at the table all the papers on the table are going to be made into many flags of the United States children are working hard to finish they're going to carry the flags in a parade when the Kim family comes back here's where the Kims are going the courthouse house in town in front of a judge with many other people they will promise to be loyal to our country and they will become citizens of the United States what a proud day this is for the Kim family and how pleased they will be when they get home and see their surprise do you think a parade of flags is a good thing to have for a new citizen I'm sure these children do because they know our flag has a special meaning it tells a story of our country one part of the story is in the 13 red and white stripes when the United States first became a nation there were just 13 states the 13 stripes stand for these states the 50 stars stand for the 50 states that we now have in the United States do the colors of our flag have special meanings too well red can stand for courage for for the brave things many people have done for our country white can stand for Purity to show that our country tries to do good things right things and blue can stand for justice to show that our country tries to be fair to everyone well one flag is almost ready but what's still missing of course the Stars Linda and Lisa Clark are helping to make the Stars Alan Ross showed them how to do it with a square piece of paper if you fold it the right way you can make a star with just one cut of the scissors Alan Ross got interested in making Stars when he found out that his last name is the same as the last name of a lady who lived when our country was first formed her name was Betsy Ross according to a famous story Betsy Ross used pieces of of bright colored cloth and sewed together our country's first flag our first flag had 13 stripes and 13 stars in the story she knew how to fold a square piece of cloth so that a perfect five-pointed star could be made with one cut of the scissors we don't know if the story about Betsy Ross is really true but it is true that Alan Ross knows how to fold and cut a star watch and now we have a star since it will be a while before the children are finished let me tell you how our country's flag has changed since it was first made this was our flag long ago when there were just 13 states when two more states joined our country the flag was changed two stripes and two stars were added so there were 15 stripes and 15 stars but could we keep adding Stripes to our flag as more states joined our country not if we wanted our flag to stay beautiful the next time the flag was changed there were 20 States but it was decided that instead of 20 Stripes our flag would have just 13 and keep 13 from then on only Stars would be added for new states in the United States so as our country grew the number of stars on the flag grew too for many years there were 48 stars then one day not many years ago alas became our 49th state these are people of Alaska celebrating that day a new state meant a new star our flag had 49 stars then people of Hawaii celebrated when the Hawaiian Islands became our 50th state and so today our flag has 50 stars like the flags that ch are making for Susie Kim and her family I think they're finished yes they are the children are proud of what they've done I think they should be our flag is very special it's something to be proud of we often see our flag in paintings that show important things that have happened in our country's history there's a flag in this famous painting showing the brave men who helped us win our freedom nearly 200 years ago there's a flag in this painting of George Washington leading his soldiers across the Delaware River into a difficult battle before we became a nation and in the painting that shows George Washington accepting the surrender of the British army there is a flag flags were raised when new lands or new States became part of our country and in this painting of a famous battle there is a flag flying over Fort McHenry in the state of Maryland this is where our country song The Star Spangled Banner was written more than 150 years ago the song is about our flag today the flag of our country still flies over Fort McKenry a special law was passed to let it fly all night as well as all day we often find our country's flag in places that are important in our history a flag flies at the house where Abraham Lincoln was living in Springfield Illinois when he was elected president more than 100 years ago we also fly flags from our homes on special holidays like Washington's birthday and the 4th of July these days honor important people and events in our country's history when someone very special to our country has died Flags fly at half staff to show our country sadness wherever our flag flies it stands for our country it flies over schools post offices Office Buildings factories standing for our country and showing our love for our country our flag flies on Ocean ships to show that they come from our country our spaceships carry our flag too can you see our flag on the shoulder of this astronaut space suit on election day Flags show citizens where to go to vote and speaking of citizens here come our new citizens the Kims have waited a long time for this special day how proud they are to be citizens now and soon they will see their surprise It's a Wonderful parade to celebrate a very special event and when the flags come by the Kims know how to show their respect do you know how to show respect to our flag if you are sitting you stand if a man or boy is wearing a hat he takes it off and holds it so that his hand is over his heart women and girls just hold their hands over their heart men and boys Without Hats do the same thing how beautiful each flag is that the children made the flag of our country Suzie Kim is happy to be a new citizen of the United States the United States is her country now now our flag is her flag the Kim family helped everyone remember what the flag means to all of us [Music]