Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 August 1893 — How Many Stars In the Flag? [ARTICLE]

How Many Stars In the Flag?

It is remarked as singular, and possibly an indication of lack of patriotism that the average American,always excepting school children, cannot tell off-hand how many stars there now are in his country’s flag. If any reader of this desires to try the question on ten of his friends he will probably find that only three or four can give the correct number even after a minute of hard thought. The ordinary reply will range from forty to forty-two stars instead of the correct forty-four. The admission within four years o£ North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming has brought the list up to the last-mentioned number. The shape of the Union has been changed from a square to a rectangle, and the stars are arranged in six straight lines, the upper and lower ones containing eight stars and the remaining four having seven stars.— [Philadelphia Timet.