On February 23, 1945, during the battle for Iwo Jima, U.S. Marines raised a flag atop Mount Suribachi. It was taken down, and a second flag was raised. Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured this second flag-raising. Now part of U.S. Navy records, it is one of the most famous war photographs in U.S. history.
Despite capturing Mount Suribachi in the early days of the battle, it would take US forces until the end of March and thousands of casualties before they captured the heavily fortified island.
World War I came to end with the Armistice declared on November 11, 1918. Following the end of the war, November 11th was observed as “Armistice Day” until it was officially renamed “Veterans Day” in 1954.
One of the guns of Battery D, 105th Field Artillery, showing American flag which was hoisted after the last shot had been fired when the armistice took effect. Etraye, France., 11/11/1918
Firefighters unfurl a large American flag over the scarred stone of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia on September 12, 2001.
August 13, 1898 - American Flag being hoisted at Fort Malate during the Battle of Manilla.
June 14 - Flag Day. Design for American Flag with 50 Stars, By Donald Edwards, 1959
On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States. Flag Day has been observed in various forms since the late 1800s, but it wasn’t until 1949 when Congress permanently designated June 14th as Flag Day. The image here is one submitted for the new 50-star design of the flag to reflect the admission of Hawaii as the 50th state in 1958. An 1818 law required a new star to be added for each new state admitted to the U.S. The law failed to describe how a new pattern for the stars should be configured so thousands of citizens, especially school children, sent their suggestions for a new flag design to the White House.
