Flag

I've always been fascinated by the American flag. It seems very...efficient. The 50 stars, the 13 stripes. When Vermont and Kentucky became the 14th and 15th states, the flag had 15 stripes, but soon, it became clear that adding a stripe with every state would become unworkable. A brief history can be found here. It's good to know that if we get a 51st state, there's already a flag designed.


But I never understood the term "red, white, and blue". Sure, it's the color of the flag, but it's also the color of the British Union Jack. Look at pictures of flags of the world,
and you notice lots of them in that basic color scheme, in places like France, and our good friend, Cuba, not to mention Chile, the Czech Republic, Iceland, Norway, and, of course, Liberia.

Anyway, happy Flag Day.