Editing Flag of the United States (section)

===Color symbolism===
When the flag was officially adopted in 1777, the colors of red, white and blue were not given an official meaning. However, when [[Charles Thomson]], Secretary of the Continental Congress, presented a proposed [[Seal of the United States|U.S. seal]] in 1782, he explained its center section in this way: {{blockquote|The colours of the pales are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valor, and Blue, the colour of the Chief signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice.<ref name=Greenstein>{{Cite magazine|url=https://swampland.time.com/2013/07/04/why-the-u-s-flag-is-red-white-and-blue/|title=Why the U.S. Flag is Red, White and Blue|first=Nicole|last=Greenstein|magazine=Time|date=July 4, 2013}}</ref>}}
These meanings have broadly been accepted as official, with some variation,<ref name=Greenstein /> but there are other extant interpretations as well:

* [[Henry Ward Beecher]] said of the [[Fort Sumter Flag]] upon its 1865 return to the fort, {{blockquote|The stars that redeem the night from darkness, and the beams of red light that beautify the morning, have been united upon its folds. As long as the sun endures, or the stars, may it wave over a nation neither enslaved nor enslaving.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Flag Replaced on Sumter |first=William Arnold |last=Spicer |year=1885 |publisher=Providence Press Company |oclc=747737536 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C8E_AAAAYAAJ&dq=sun&pg=PA50 }}</ref>}}
* In 1986, president [[Ronald Reagan]] gave his own interpretation, saying, {{blockquote|The colors of our flag signify the qualities of the human spirit we Americans cherish. Red for courage and readiness to sacrifice; white for pure intentions and high ideals; and blue for vigilance and justice.<ref name=Greenstein />}}
* An interpretation attributed to George Washington claims that {{blockquote|We take the stars from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity, representing our liberty.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Origin of the American Flag|author=Telfair Marriott Minton|journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research|volume=8|issue=32|publisher=Society for Army Historical Research|date=April 1929|pages=114–120 |jstor=44220286 }}</ref>}}