US President Donald Trump displayed what he described as one of the oldest surviving American flags during the ‘America 250’ Independence Day celebration. He called the flag a symbol of the nation’s founding and military victories.
Speaking at the event marking the upcoming 250th anniversary of American independence, Trump unveiled the historic flag, which dates back to 1777. The flag features 13 stars and 13 stripes, representing the original 13 colonies that declared independence from Britain on July 4, 1776.
“This was the flag that flew victorious at Saratoga [in 1777],” Trump said. “And these are the real deals.”
Trump said the historic flags had witnessed some of the most important moments in American history. Pointing to one of the flags, he said it flew during the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, when British forces surrendered to the Americans.
“These are flags that have seen a lot,” Trump said. “These were the stars and stripes that flew triumphant when the British waved the white flag of surrender at Yorktown. That was a big surrender. Nobody thought that was possible,” according to the New York Post.
Unlike the well-known Betsy Ross flag, which has the stars arranged in a circle, this flag has the stars placed in three rows in a 4-5-4 pattern, he said.
He also pointed to a flag that he said was the first American flag flown over the Brooklyn Bridge when it officially opened in 1883. Trump called the bridge “one of the most beautiful bridges anywhere in the world” and one of America’s greatest engineering achievements.
He then referred to another flag that flew on a US Navy warship during the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898, when American forces defeated the Spanish fleet during the Spanish-American War. Trump described it as one of the greatest naval victories in US history.
While speaking about the flag, Trump also compared that victory to the recent US military strikes on Iran, claiming they had destroyed around 159 ships “very quickly.”
Later in his speech, Trump invited the grandchildren of famous Wild West figure Buffalo Bill Cody to the stage. Trump added that the flag was taken west around the time explorers Lewis and Clark began their expedition in 1803 to map the newly acquired US territory.
Trump also honoured several decorated military veterans and invited them to salute the historic flags. Among them was 104-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor Ken Schubring, who paid tribute to the flag that was aboard the USS Arizona when the battleship was sunk during Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Trump also recognised 107-year-old veteran Arthur Rose, who saluted a flag that was carried on one of the first landing craft during the D-Day landings in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944.
He further noted that the United States has had 27 official versions of its national flag over the past 250 years.
The Fourth of July, also known as Independence Day, is a US federal holiday celebrated every year. On this day in 1776, representatives of the 13 American colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, officially announcing their separation from British rule.
