50-Star Flag Turns 50 Thanks to One Ohio Teen

[mikemarrs]

(July 3) -- This Fourth of July marks the 50th anniversary of something special: the birth of the 50-star flag.

While it might not seem like much of an accomplishment, there's a patriotic story behind the design of the flag. In 1958, a 17-year-old Ohio teenager, Robert Heft, had a high school assignment to create something of his own imagination and concept.

Dwight Eisenhower holds a corner of a new 50 star flag
AP Photo/Byron Rollins
President Dwight Eisenhower holds a corner of a new 50-star flag displayed for the first time at the White House on Aug. 21, 1959. Minutes earlier, the president signed a proclamation admitting Hawaii to statehood.

Heft, a history and political buff, knew that the United States flag had not been changed since 1912. He also had a hunch about Alaska and Hawaii soon becoming states.

Based on that, he took his grandparents' 48-star flag and cut it up, figuring out how to make room for two extra stars in an unobtrusive way. His "new" design featured five rows of six stars (adding up to 30 stars) alternating with four rows of five stars (adding up to 20 stars).

Heft's teacher, Stan Pratt, was unimpressed and gave Heft a B-, but added that if Heft could convince Congress to adopt the design someday, he'd bump the grade up to an A.

On that challenge, a year later Heft asked his congressman, Rep. Walter Moeller, to take the flag to Washington after Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the union.

Early in 1960, Heft received a call from President Dwight Eisenhower. Ike told him his flag design had been chosen from more than 1,500 entries. Despite the fact that several identical designs were supposedly submitted along with Heft's, on July 4 he was in D.C. with Eisenhower to watch the adoption ceremony of his flag design. (It has been suggested that Heft's design was chosen because he submitted an actual flag as opposed to just a design sketch.)

That day, the very flag Heft sewed at his grandparents' house was hoisted over the U.S. Capitol dome. After that, the same flag flew over every U.S. state capital building and has flown over the White House under five administrations.
49 Stars & Stripes
Bob Schutz, AP
President Dwight D. Eisenhower takes a close look in his White House office at the 49-star flag, which was later raised over Philadelphia's Independence Hall on July 4, 1959, and then taken to the state capitol in Alaska.

Returning home from D.C. in 1960, Heft also learned that Pratt had given him that promised A.

In the years after his flag became famous, Heft became a public speaker and went wherever he could to talk about his flag. He visited all 50 states to give speeches, went to 57 countries and was a White House visitor 14 times (under nine presidents). Heft also spent 28 years as mayor of Napoleon, Ohio.

So where is the original famous flag today?

In 1998, Heft put the flag up for auction on eBay, with a "Buy It Now" price of $250,000. There were no takers, so he retained the flag for his personal collection. He died from a heart attack last December.

Several weeks ago, from within his former mobile home in Saginaw, Mich., Heft's family members held a public auction to sell off his many flag-related pieces of memorabilia. It included Heft's former Michigan vanity license plate (reading "US FLAG"), a framed letter to Heft from former President Bill Clinton, replica flags, flag stationery, flag toys, flag toothpicks -- but no original 50-state flag.

That precious American artifact is stored in a safe, dutifully cared for by Saginaw Township attorney Darrell R. Zolton. (Zolton and Tammy Allen, a niece of Heft's, represent a trust on behalf of Heft.)

Zolton told AOL News that Heft, who never married and had no children, "had created his own will that specified that money generated from the sale of the flag is to go to two great-nephews and one great-niece." Zolton also possesses a 51-star flag Heft created for future use, perhaps in case Puerto Rico ever becomes a state.

"We're going through the process of documenting everything we can in regards to the flags for the appropriate buyers, and Mr. Heft's life is an interesting one to trace," Zolton said. "He lived a fairly simple, spartan lifestyle most of his life, but he was a wonderful public speaker and did whatever he could to bring his story to the people."

Potential buyers of the flag(s) are encouraged to contact Zolton's office.

And while the public may not see the flag fly for some time, there is a place where Heft is still publicly acknowledged.

In 2003, the Ohio Historical Society placed a historical marker in front of a high school in Lancaster, Ohio -- the spot where Heft first presented his creation to Pratt.

The marker reads, "The design for the 50-star flag was born here at Lancaster High School in 1958 when student Robert Heft designed it for a history class project. ... Heft constructed a 50-star flag from an old 48-star flag using blue cloth to replace the field and white adhesive for the stars. ... President Dwight D. Eisenhower made the design the official American flag in 1960. It is the only flag in American history to have flown over the White House for more than five administrations."

Jeffrey Cottrell, a multimedia specialist at the Historical Society of Saginaw County at the Castle Museum, knew Heft during the last several years of his life.

"Bob always had a story for everyone," Cottrell said. "He was greatly loved in these parts, and while selfishly we'd love to see the flag in our museum, we'd completely understand if it made it to the Smithsonian, where, in all honesty, it probably belongs."

By the way, before Heft, there was already a precedent when it came to a teenager designing a high-profile flag. In 1927, 13-year-old Benny Benson created the flag for the territory of Alaska. His "Big Dipper" design, chosen from more than 700, still flies as the flag of the 49th state.


http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/artic ... s/19537928