A lot of people are wondering who made the current US Flag that is waved during parades and national holidays. The answer is Robert Heft. He was 17 years old only when he came up with the 50-star flag. He was a high school sophomore in Ohio at the time.
The flag was created by hand. Heft sew the US flag in 1958 before Alaska and Hawaii were added to the Union. The project started in high school in 1958 in Lancaster, Ohio. Heft was supposed to submit the flag to his teacher, Stan Pratt. Students at the time were tasked to make their own project as they preferred and they would be scored based on creativity.
Heft was always fond of government and politics. He also knew that Alaska and Hawaii were about to be added as new states of the country. Other kids at his high school thought of other projects, but Robert immediately knew that he wanted to create an American flag featuring 50 stars.
Heft was also good at history. He knew that the design of the American flag has not changed since 1912. He wanted to introduce some adjustments that will be subtle but relevant. His family actually did not know that he carried the then 48-star flag of America from their home and started to cut and rearrange its design. He added two more stars so that the upper left portion featured 50 in all. The new design by Heft presented five rows with six stars that alternate with another four rows with five stars. He spent an entire weekend working and sewing on the project until it was finished.
When Robert submitted his final product to his teacher, Pratt actually did not like it, saying that it lacked creativity. Pratt told Heft that any student can make a flag, so he graded the student a B minus. He added that he might raise Robert’s grade if he can have Congress adopt his new flag design.
Heft remained unfazed by his teacher’s response and brought the new flag to Congressman Walter Moeller. Moeller worked for the government to embrace the new 50-star design after the two new states were added. The 50-star flag by Heft as first displayed on July 4, 1960 at the US Capitol dome. Some of the people who witnessed it included President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Robert Heft and Congressman Moeller. The flag has been present at various government buildings and on top of the White House for five administrations.
The original flag is still with Robert Heft. He received big offers amounting up to $350,000 for the flag but he refused to sell it. After he finished the 50-star version, Heft even proceeded to design one with 51 stars, in anticipation of the addition of Puerto Rico to the Union. The lesson in all these is that even young minds can come up with great ideas. People should not easily get discouraged by initial failures and make their dream a reality.
Labels: American flag, custom flag, custom flag maker, custom flag. personalized flag
by:
The Flagman
