And now it's time for Who Smarted?
Psst, hey, smarty pants.
As you can hear, today I'm at a parade.
If you've ever been to a parade, you know there's lots of cool things to see and hear.
There's marching bands dancers floats balloons, costumed characters and fire trucks, to name a few.
Ooh, we're also in luck, because Who Smarted's ace reporter, Chet Nickerson, is commentating on today's parade.
Hello and welcome to the Who Smarted parade to celebrate Flag Day which, while not a federal holiday, is a day of observance to commemorate the adoption of the red, white and blue stars and stripes as the official flag of the United States of America.
Ah, yes.
June 14th is Flag Day, and I do see a lot of flags today.
Which, if you know me, means I'm about to ask lots of questions about flags.
Go for it, trusty narrator.
You're in luck.
Besides being a reporter and parade commentator, I'm also a vexillologist.
Uh, Smarty Pants, did you just hear a word you've never heard before?
Yeah, me too.
Let's see if we can figure it out together.
What is a vexillologist?
Is it A, a person who studies flags B, a person who talks with a puppet, or C, a person who studies confusing things?
Chet?
Well, if you said B a person who talks with a puppet, you're thinking of a ventriloquist, which I also do in my spare time with my talking dummy, Nick Chetterson.
Say hi, Nick.
Hello.
And if you said C a person who studies annoying things, you're probably thinking of the word vexing, which means confusing.
But if you said A, a person who studies flags, you're right.
Cool, cool.
But why wouldn't it be a flagologist?
Why a vexillologist?
Ah, yes.
The word vexillology, meaning the study of flags, comes from the Latin word vexillum, which means flag.
Well, look at that, smarty pants.
We're learning new things about flags already.
And since Chet's a vexillologist, I'm sure he can answer more flag-related questions.
Like, where was the first U.S. flag raised?
Why are most flags rectangular?
And who really designed the U.S. flag?
Get ready for another whiff of science and history on... Who Smarted?
Who Smarted?
Who Smarted?
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Is it you?
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Is it science or history?
Listen up, everyone.
We make smarting lots of fun on Who's Smart?
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Welcome back, paradey pants!
Aha!
What do I see on the horizon?
Why, it's a giant floating balloon of someone who lives in a pineapple under the sea!
SpongeBob SquarePants!
SpongeBob SquarePants!
SpongeBob Square... Um, Chet, do you mind putting your puppet away?
I'm trying to learn more about flags.
Sorry, trustee.
Go ahead.
Ask me anything.
Well, we just learned that a vexillologist studies flags and that the word comes from vexillum, the Latin word meaning flag.
But why was there a Latin word for flag?
What early flags were they using?
Flags go back to ancient times.
But the vexillum, or early flag that gave the study of flags its name, was used by the ancient Romans.
Who knew flags were around that long?
So when did we start seeing flags like the ones of today?
Modern flags didn't appear until the 6th century, when a material became more widely available.
Smarty Pants, was that material A. Cotton, B. Silk, or C. Polyester?
If you said B, silk, you're right.
The first flags using silk from China were attached to bamboo or flown from poles by a variety of people.
Flags were used to identify different regions or flown by their military.
As for the first U.S. flag, that appeared way later than the 6th century.
Smarty Pants, where was the first U.S. flag raised?
Was it A. Washington, D.C., B. Williamsburg, Virginia, or C. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania?
If you said C, you're right!
Ding!
The first U.S. flag was flown at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Smarty Pants, have you ever seen a U.S. flag?
If you have, you might know it has 50 white stars on a blue background and 13 red and white stripes.
True or false, that's what the first U.S. flag looked like.
The answer is... False!
The U.S. flag has gone through some pretty big changes over the years.
The first US flag was called the Grand Union and while it was red, white and blue, like the flag you see today in the corner where the white stars on a blue background are, there was something else.
Smarty Pants, any idea what was in the corner?
Was it A, a firework, B, an eagle, or C, a small British flag?
It may sound surprising, but the Grand Union flag actually had a small British flag known as the Union Jack, in the corner.
Since the United States was fighting for independence from Britain at the time, it makes sense why that changed.
Exactly.
In fact, when British soldiers saw the Union Jack on the corner of the flag, they got confused and thought George Washington was giving up.
Has old Georgie given up already?
I guess not.
Run away.
Smarty Pants, any idea who redesigned the U.S. flag?
Did you say Betsy Ross?
If so, you're right or wrong, depending on who you ask.
But I've always heard Betsy Ross redesigned the flag.
If it wasn't her, then who was it?
Do you have your time travel app?
Of course.
I never narrate without it.
See that man over there?
That's Francis Hopkinson, a politician writer artist, lawyer and judge who signed the Declaration of Independence and helped design American money.
That's a lot of accomplishments.
But what does he have to do with the US flag?
While Francis doesn't get as much credit for the flag as Betsy Ross, some people believe he created the US flag.
In any case, he definitely worked on one.
In 1780, he sent a bill to the US Board of Treasury for the work he did on one.
He must have made a lot of the money he helped design.
Actually, the bill was never paid.
Question.
If Francis Hopkinson helped design the first flag, why is Betsy Ross so much more well-known?
For starters, Betsy Ross was a well-known flag maker at the time.
Secondly, her grandson spread the story that she indeed redesigned the flag.
And despite having no evidence, he claimed that he heard the story directly from his grandmother many, many times and that was good enough for the history books.
I know you're not calling my grandson a liar.
Nope, not at all, Betsy.
Heading back to the present.
Perhaps some things are better left a mystery.
But now that I'm looking at a U.S. flag, I have another question.
Why do the stars have five points?
That I can answer definitively.
And the reason is a practical one.
Five points are easier to cut than six points.
Smartypants, do you know what the stars on the U.S. flag represent?
Did you say the states?
Great job.
Today's US flag has 50 stars representing the 50 US states.
However, the original US flag only had 13 stars because there were only 13 states at that time.
Whenever a new state was added to the country, a new star was added to the flag.
Now, smarty pants, do you know how many stripes are there?
The answer is 13.
And those 13 stripes represent the original 13 colonies.
True or false, there are more red stripes than white stripes?
The answer is true.
There are seven red and six white stripes.
So, Chet, have all U.S. flags basically looked the same?
Actually, no.
Originally, there was no rule for how the stars and stripes should look.
So different people waved different looking flags that all represented the same country.
That sounds a little vexing.
It sure was.
You can understand the need to have one design for the flag.
And that leads us to Flag Day.
On June 14 1777, the redesigned US flag with the 13 stripes and 13 stars in a circle was officially recognized by Congress.
It certainly is a grand old flag.
Right, Nick Chetterson?
It sure is.
Okay, okay, back to flags.
When it comes to the shape of a flag, I'm noticing that many countries, not just the US, have rectangular flags.
Is there any special reason for that shape?
Why, yes!
And it, too, is a practical reason.
That we'll learn about right after this quick break.
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Now back to Who Smarted.
Smarty Pants, have you ever wondered why most flags are rectangular instead of say square or circle or triangular?
The answer is pretty practical.
Chet?
Rectangular flags are best at catching the wind.
Ah, so all countries must fly rectangular-shaped flags, right?
Wrong!
Nepal's flag is two connected triangles, one on top of the other.
They use this shape to represent the Himalaya Mountains.
Whoa.
Oh, that's pretty cool.
Are there any other unique flag shapes?
Well, Switzerland and Vatican City are the only countries that use a square-shaped flag.
SpongeBob Square Flag.
No, no, no, no, no.
No puppets.
Smarty Pants, true or false?
All flags are the exact same on both sides, front and back.
The answer, surprisingly, is false.
On Moldova's flag, only the front displays the coat of arms.
On Paraguay's flag, only the reverse side shows the treasury seal.
And since Saudi Arabia's flag features religious writing, the back of the flag is a duplicate of the front and two flags are actually sewn together.
Interesting.
Let's talk flag colors.
Smarty Pants, have you ever noticed a lot of flags use similar colors?
Blue, red, white, and green seem to be pretty common.
Are there any reasons for that?
Flag colors usually stand for something important to the country.
On the US flag, blue represents loyalty, friendship, and justice.
On the Union Jack, the blue background represents Scotland, since Scotland is one of the countries that make up the United Kingdom.
Australia's flag has a blue background and features the Union Jack in the corner, because a British man named Captain Cook took possession of the island of Australia in 1770.
New Zealand's flag also has a blue background with the Union Jack in the corner because it is a former British colony.
What about red?
That's a popular color.
What does red usually mean?
On the U.S. flag, red stands for courage.
On the Union Jack, red represents the Red Cross of St.
George, the patron saint of England.
The red stripes on Canada's flag are a tribute to the soldiers who fought in World War I, while the red maple leaf in the center represents maple leaves turning red in autumn.
Ooh, smarty pants.
See if you can guess what the white represents on the Canadian flag.
It's something Canada is famous for.
No, not a moose.
Snow!
Of course, the U.S. flag also has white.
Does that symbolize snow, too?
No.
The white stripes on the U.S. flag symbolize honesty.
And on the flag of Ireland, the white stripe between the green and orange ones symbolizes the hope for peace.
Speaking of green, what does that symbolize on flags?
On Ireland's flag, the green stripe symbolizes a religious movement.
But in many cases, such as the flag of Dominica, Bolivia and Brazil, green symbolizes nature, forests and natural resources.
Makes sense.
By the way, trustee, did you know your favorite food was inspired by the colors of a flag?
This I have to know.
Smarty Pants, have you ever seen an Italian flag?
Do you know what colors it is?
Well, here's an easy way to remember.
Think of it like a slice of pizza with red tomato sauce, white mozzarella cheese and a piece of green fresh basil on it.
Those are the colors of the Italian flag.
Wait, the colors of the Italian flag were inspired by pizza?
No, no, it's the other way around.
The ingredients of the first pizza were inspired by the colors of the Italian flag.
Ah, that is deliciously cool to know.
And it looks like we're coming to the end of today's Who Smarted Flag Day Parade.
Thanks for joining me, Chet Nickerson, and my friend, Nick Chetterson.
Hey, let's get some pizza.
Hey, I think I like this puppet after all.
A super smarty shout out to Jax and Jet in Prince Frederick, Maryland.
You told us who smarted keeps you laughing and learning every time you get in the car, and that even your mom Mary, loves listening.
Now that's what we call a true smarty family.
This episode Flags was written by Sarah Sweetick and voiced by Adam Chet Davis, Kim Davis and Jerry Colbert.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn.
Who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.
Our associate producer is Max Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis.
Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert.
This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.
Too smart and...
