For Which It Stands: An Anecdotal Biography of the American Flag

Author and former Golf Illustrated editor Corcoran (Duel in the Sun) takes readers on a whirlwind historical tour, from the 1777 congressional committee meeting where Old Glory's design was approved to an Oaks, Penn., plant where flags are manufactured today. This pocket-size book is filled with facts about the birth and evolution of the Stars and Stripes: Corcoran pokes holes in the Betsy Ross legend (she neither designed nor sewed the first flag), explains that the five-pointed star was virtually unprecedented when the U. S. began using it, and reveals that flag sales began unexpectedly to spike in 1999, thanks in part to Martha Stewart's use of the flag in her home decorating suggestions. Much of this information is related through lively interviews with the colorful and knowledgeable Whitney Smith, whom Corcoran describes as ""the world's most ardent devotee of the study of flags."" Anyone flying Old Glory today will find much of interest in this little volume.