If you live in America, you’ve likely seen some variant of this proud, somewhat jingoist, bumper sticker:

It’s both a statement of bravado, and a play on words, which is a rare combination. America’s flag (also known as our colors), and the people it represents, won’t run from a challenge or a fight. Setting aside the value of bumper-sticker patriotism, this seems an honorable, if perhaps brash, statement.

This real-world example, however, is comically in need of replacement:

[Photo credit: Mike Ash]

Believe it or not, though, it could have been even worse. It’ll be even more laughable if a similar fate strikes this sticker.

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Epilogue

If you’d like to learn more about America’s flag, consult your local Wikipedia. In my own research, I learned three interesting new facts:

1. The last 35 states all share an anniversary day. All states admitted to the union since 1818 were brought in on the fourth of July.

2. While you probably know that the 13 stripes on our flag represent the 13 original colonies, you probably didn’t know that after the addition of Vermont and Kentucky in 1795, we had a 15-stripe flag. Presumably, adding 5 more states in 1818 made it clear how untenable the idea of adding stripes for each state would be.

3. Because the star arrangement didn’t become official until our 48-star flag in 1912, we had some Space Invaders-lookin’ messes in the 1800s. Check these out:

Space Invaders Flag #1

Space Invaders Flag #2

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