Hawthorne Lions Club recently handed out a fact sheet to Mineral County schools discussing the American flag.

The pamphlet covered The Pledge of Allegiance, facts about the American flag and which star represents which state on the flag. Each student was also given a flag to take home.

An essay contest was held and Emily Grossman was chosen the winner with her essay titled “The U.S. Flag” as follows:

Do you know much about the American flag? It’s a sign of dignity and independence. One of the parts of the flag is the fifty stars, they represent the fifty states in our country. They are white because the white stands for purity and innocence. The thirteen stripes stand for the thirteen original colonies that declared independence from Great Britain. The red stripes stand for hardiness and valor. There are six white stripes and seven red stripes. The canton is blue the color of the chief, the blue on the flag stands for vigilance, perseverance and justice.

What the American flag means to our county is that it’s a symbol of pride, dignity, values and independence. For 200 years, the flag has been our nation’s symbol. It has changed but it still has represented the same thing during this time. The flag is a fascinating as the American Republic itself; “It has survived great battles, inspired songs, and evolved in response of the county it represent.” The flag is not just a symbol it’s a way for the country to portray itself to the world.

I could just imagine witnessing the flag being flown June 14, 1777 for the first time. It would’ve been amazing to see that moment in history. The flag stands for pride, justice, and freedom. It stands for freedom because of the lives that have been lost to make our nation whit it is today. To me, the flag brings us together, the flag represents the soldiers that fought for us. They fought for our independence so that we could live a better life.

In this essay I learned a lot of things I didn’t know about the flag before. I never knew the colors of the flag meant something or how important it has been to our country. I also didn’t know what the canton/union and the stripes meant but I learned they stand for very important things that happened in history. I had a lot of fun writing about this subject.