Flag Folding

[Ken]

I was wondering, what person or persons are credited with creating the folding of the American Flag.

[BuckeyeDEJ]

Betsy Ross. Without her making the flag, there wouldn't be anything to fold.

I'll sit down now.

[CadetProgramGuy]

http://afmentor.com/heritage/flagfoldinghistory.htm


The use of the triangular fold came much later than the 1770s. It seems the custom originated after the Spanish American War. We had gained far-flung Navy and Army bases, where it became customary to fly larger and larger flags. A need arose for folding the flag efficiently to facilitate hoisting the next morning. Before the evolution and adoption of the triangle fold each base, and ships, were free to fold the flag whatever way they wanted. The fold made handling large flags easier. By the early 1900s, both the Army and the Navy were using the triangular fold. After 1910 the Boy Scouts of America also popularized the practice. In addition, soldiers and sailors returning from WWI helped transfer the "military" fold to civilian use. At first, the fold simply was practical, but patriotic orators later added the symbolism of the cocked hat to pay homage to Revolutionary War soldiers. This symbolism was updated to include Revolutionary marines, even though they wore a hat with one side of the brim pinned "Aussie" style. Sailors during the American Revolution had to provide their own hats, which makes it conceivable that they, too, might have worn the "cocked hat."