Did Betsy Make the Flag?
1777 AD
1777 1777
75.10W39.56N
MISC

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
	Was the first American flag bearing stars and stripes designed and sewn by Betsy Griscom Ross of Philadelphia?
	The legend says George Washington and two others called at the little upholstery shop and asked Mrs. Ross to make a flag.  Well, she had never made a flag, she replied, but would give it a try.  Betsy examined a rough drawing the men produced and suggested five-pointed stars instead of the six-pointed stars on the drawing. They agreed, and Betsy made the flag.
	Aside from the testimony of Ross's descendents, there is no evidence to support this popular story, but we do know that the United States Government gave Ross the contract to make its flags after the first national emblem was adopted on June 14, 1777.  She and her family continued in the flag-making business until 1857.