BILL NUMBER: SCR 67CHAPTERED BILL TEXT RESOLUTION CHAPTER 94 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 20, 2010 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR AUGUST 20, 2010 ADOPTED IN SENATE JULY 1, 2010 ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 17, 2010 INTRODUCED BY Senator Walters FEBRUARY 2, 2010 Relative to the American flag. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SCR 67, Walters. Relative to the American flag. This measure would honor the 50th anniversary of the flying of the current American flag and would encourage all Californians to celebrate the occasion with appropriate activities. WHEREAS, For more than two centuries, the American flag has been a banner of hope for generation after generation of Americans; and WHEREAS, The flag is a symbol of a country that has grown from 13 colonies to a united nation of 50 sovereign states; and WHEREAS, Continental Congress member Francis Hopkinson designed the first Stars and Stripes. The first flag of the United States was authorized by Congressional Resolution on June 14, 1777, resolving that it be made of 13 stripes, alternating red and white, and that the union be 13 white stars in a blue field, representing a new constellation; and WHEREAS, Since the first American flag, several congressional acts and Presidential Executive orders have altered the shape, design, and arrangement of the flag, and allowed for additional stars and stripes to be added to reflect the admission of each new state; and WHEREAS, In 1794, Congress passed an act changing the American flag so that it contained 15 stripes and 15 stars; and WHEREAS, In 1818, President Monroe signed legislation requiring that the American flag have 13 stripes and a star for each state in the union. Stars for newly added states would be applied to the flag on July 4 of the following year; and WHEREAS, Flag makers were able to use imaginative designs to accommodate new stars on the flag until 1912, when President Taft issued an Executive order that established rows of stars as the standard design; and WHEREAS, The 48-star American flag, represented by the traditional 13 stripes and six rows of eight stars, was the official flag from 1912 until 1959; and WHEREAS, On January 3, 1959, Alaska was formally granted statehood and the 49-star American flag, represented by the traditional 13 stripes and seven rows of seven stars, became the official flag when it was raised over Independence Hall on July 4, 1959; and WHEREAS, Hawaii became this country's 50th state on August 21, 1959, requiring that a new 50-star flag be designed as the official American flag; and WHEREAS, President Eisenhower unveiled the new 50-star flag on August 21, 1959, at a ceremony commemorating Hawaii's statehood; and WHEREAS, The 50-star flag, the current Stars and Stripes, became the official American flag on July 4, 1960, with a design of 13 stripes and 50 stars, represented by five rows of six stars alternating with four rows of five stars; and WHEREAS, Despite the numerous designs of the American flag, they have all stood for the United States Constitution, the American way of life, our collective past achievements, and our dreams for the future; and WHEREAS, On July 4, 2010, the 50-star American flag will celebrate its 50th anniversary as the official Stars and Stripes, representing the longest period that any fixed flag design has been used; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature honors the 50th anniversary of the flying of the current American flag and encourages all Californians to celebrate the occasion with appropriate activities; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate provide copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.