Tony Thurmond: “two hundred and twenty-four years ago today, the United States was engaged in its War for Independence. I note that the…”

“two hundred and twenty-four years ago today, the United States was engaged in its War for Independence. I note that the American Continental Army, now the United States Army, was established by the Continental Congress, just two years earlier on June 14, 1775. I express my congratulations to the United States Army on its 226th birthday. At the start of that War, American colonists fought under a variety of local flags. The Continental Colors, or Grand Union Flag, was the unofficial national flag from 1775-1777. This flag had thirteen alternating red and white stripes, with the English flag in the upper left corner. Following the publication of the Declaration of Independence, it was no longer appropriate to fly a banner containing the British flag. Accordingly, on June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed a resolution that 'the Flag of the United States be 13 stripes alternate red and white, and the Union be 13 stars white and a blue field representing a new constellation.'”