Wikipedia: Old Glory/Talk

The articles says

: The most recent change, from forty-eight stars to fifty, occurred when Alaska and Hawaii were granted statehood.

Wasn't there a 49-star flag for a very brief period (4 July 1959 - 4 July 1960, or something similar)? Also isn't "Stars and Stripes" a better name for the article? (I'll leave it for the Americans to decide.) --Zundark, 2001 Nov 1

: I believe Old Glory is the name of the flag made by Betsy Ross that is hanging in the Smithsonian (am I victim to too much american mythology here?). anyway, I think that it applies to that specific flag. it can be a general name for american flags, but it at least originated as the name of one flag.

: Actually, I think Old Glory refers to the 48-star flag, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if I'm wrong on this one. Regardless, I'd agree that Stars and Stripes would be a better article name. I'd go so far as to think that Flag of the United States or Flag of the United States of America would be best. -- EdwardOConnor

: I named the article Old Glory because United States/Government says that the flag is called Old Glory. No deeper meaning that that. -- hajhouse

I think this article would be better named Flag of the United States. Everyone knows what that is. Non-US people are likely to not know what 'Old Glory' is (and looking at the discussion above, maybe even some Americans aren't too sure). -- SJK

I don't see why it matters whether people know what the title means. The article should explain the title. Stars and Stripes is more natural to link to than Flag of the United States. But national flags often have an offical name (e.g., [Australian National Flag]? and [National Flag of Canada]?); is there an official name for the Stars and Stripes? --Zundark, 2001 Nov 1

As a vote against the Stars and Stripes, its also the name of the US army? military? armed forces? newspaper. Personally, I hate articles with multiple definitions within...JHK

Zundark: It makes a difference what we call the page -- people will find pages easier if they understand the titles. Suppose i'm searching on Google for "america flag", and i don't know what "old glory" means... if the Wikipedia article comes up in the search results, I'm much more likely to go to follow the link if its I title I can understand and immediately see as relevant, e.g. "Flag of the Unites States", than one which I'm not too sure what it means, i.e. "Old Glory". -- SJK

: Maybe. Old Glory certainly isn't very appropriate, which is why I suggested it should be changed. JHK says Stars and Stripes has another meaning, which is a good reason for avoiding it. Your reasoning suggests that Flag of the United States of America would be better than Flag of the United States. --Zundark, 2001 Nov 2

I said I would leave this for Americans to decide, but I don't see any decision coming from that side of the Atlantic, so I will shortly change the name of the article to Flag of the United States unless someone has objections. Part of my reason for choosing this name is that the Flag Act of 1818 calls it "the flag of the United States", as does Executive Order 10834. --Zundark, 2001 Nov 2