Symbols and holidays

The American flag has 13 stripes and 50 stars. The 13 stripes, seven red and six white, are there because there were 13 original colonies, and the stripes stand for those colonies. The 50 stars sit in the blue rectangle in the corner. They stand for the 50 states of today. There is one star for each state.

The flag changed as the country grew, because a star was added each time a new state joined. The design in use now, with 50 stars, has been the flag since July 4, 1960, the year after Hawaii became a state. People often call the flag the Stars and Stripes.

The national anthem, the official song of the country, is called The Star-Spangled Banner. Francis Scott Key wrote the words in September 1814, during the War of 1812. He watched British warships fire on Fort McHenry in Baltimore all through the night. In the morning the American flag was still flying over the fort, and that is what the song is about. Congress made it the official national anthem in 1931.

You will hear the anthem at official ceremonies, at naturalization ceremonies, and before sports games. People stand up, face the flag, take off their hats, and often place the right hand over the heart. You are not required to sing.

The flag and the anthem are not the country's only symbols. A motto is a short phrase that says what a country stands for. The first motto of the nation was E Pluribus Unum. That is Latin, and it means out of many, one: many states and many people making one country. The motto appears on coins and on the Great Seal of the United States. The Great Seal is the official emblem of the country, and it is used on important government documents. In 1956 Congress made In God We Trust the official national motto.

The Statue of Liberty stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, close to New York City. If you are asked where the Statue of Liberty is, you can answer New York Harbor or Liberty Island. USCIS also accepts New Jersey, near New York City, and on the Hudson (River).

The statue was a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States. The French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi designed it. The engineer Gustave Eiffel designed the iron frame inside it. It was built in France and shipped across the Atlantic in pieces. Workers put it together on a stone pedestal. Americans raised the money for the pedestal. It was dedicated in October 1886, and its formal name is Liberty Enlightening the World.

The figure is a woman in a long robe holding a torch high in her right hand. In her left arm she carries a tablet with the date July 4, 1776, written in Roman numerals. That is the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted. A crown with seven rays sits on her head. Broken chains lie at her feet. The broken chains stand for freedom from oppression. Oppression means cruel and unfair rule.

The outside of the statue is made of thin sheets of copper. Copper starts out a shiny brown. The salt air slowly changed it, and after about thirty years it was the pale green you see today. The statue itself is about 151 feet tall. From the ground to the tip of the torch, counting the pedestal, it is about 305 feet.

For millions of immigrants who arrived by ship in New York, the statue was the first thing they saw of America. The federal immigration station on nearby Ellis Island handled about twelve million arrivals between 1892 and 1954. A poem by Emma Lazarus is placed inside the pedestal. It describes the statue welcoming people who are poor and looking for freedom, and that is still how many Americans think of it.

Today the statue is a national monument cared for by the National Park Service, and visitors reach it by ferry. Its picture appears on coins, on stamps and in countless photographs, and the torch has become a common symbol of liberty.

A national holiday, also called a federal holiday, is a day set by Congress. On these days federal government offices close and federal workers get the day off. Many private employers close on these days too, but they do not have to. Today there are eleven national holidays. Some versions of the civics test ask you to name two national holidays. Some ask you to name three. It is worth learning several.

Five of them come in the first half of the year. New Year's Day is January 1. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is the third Monday in January. Washington's Birthday is the third Monday in February, and most people call it Presidents Day. Memorial Day is the last Monday in May. Juneteenth is June 19.

The other six come in the second half of the year. Independence Day is July 4. Labor Day is the first Monday in September. Columbus Day is the second Monday in October. Veterans Day is November 11. Thanksgiving Day is the fourth Thursday in November. Christmas Day is December 25.

Independence Day is the birthday of the country. It is a holiday to celebrate independence from Britain. It marks July 4, 1776, the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted. We celebrate Independence Day on July 4. People watch parades, cook food outdoors with their families, and watch fireworks at night.

Memorial Day and Veterans Day are easy to confuse, so it helps to learn them together. Memorial Day comes at the end of May. It is a holiday to honor soldiers who died in military service. Veterans Day is on November 11. It is a holiday to honor everyone who has served in the military, living or dead. That date was chosen because the fighting in World War I stopped on November 11, 1918.

Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865. On that day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas were told they were free. That was more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021. Labor Day honors working people. Thanksgiving Day is a day for families to eat a large meal together and give thanks.

States can add holidays of their own. Some states use a different name for the second Monday in October. A few well known days are not federal holidays at all, even though many people mark them. Patriot Day on September 11 remembers the people who died in the attacks. Flag Day on June 14 is the flag's birthday. Government offices stay open on both days.