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| The Betsy Ross flag. |
Tomorrow is Flag Day, so today we thought we’d celebrate by noting the one of the U.S. government’s first contracts—the deal with Betsy Ross to sew the nation’s first flag.
According to legend, a secret committee of the Continental Congress approached the seamstress in 1776 with a rough outline (some things never change) of the flag design they wanted and she perfected the familiar stars and stripes. Following the successful completion of the contract, Ross turned her upholstery business into a flag making business, making her perhaps the first woman-owned small business to do business with the government.
Many historians believe Ross’ exclusive claim on the flag to be nothing more than really good PR. Evidence shows other upholsterers made flags for the Colonial-era government around the same time. Many of those upholsterers were women.
