Talk Like a Local: Patriotism in the United States

As America gets ready to celebrate the 4th of July with its traditional fireworks, barbecues and sometimes-over-the-top displays of the American Flag, we’ve gathered for you a collection of terms associated with American Patriotism, and their often-interesting histories.
Uncle Sam: A personification of the United States, or the US government
Ex: It’s the fourth if July already? Happy birthday, Uncle Sam!

Origin: Common folklore holds that Uncle Sam’s origins trace back to soldiers stationed in upstate New York, who would receive barrels of meat stamped with the initials U.S. The soldiers joked that these initials were a reference to the troops’ meat supplier, (Uncle) Samuel Wilson of Troy, New York.

It has been argued by historian Glen Clever that the image of Uncle Sam was influenced by or even based on the character Sam Slick, created by Canadian satirist Thomas Chandler Haliburton. (Wikipedia)

Old Glory, Stars and Stripes: Nicknames for the American Flag
Ex: I can’t believe you made a Stars and Stripes layer cake, Martha. That’s an Old Glory I can appreciate.

Origin: One theory holds that the red-and-white stripe—and later, stars-and-stripes—motif of the flag may have been based on the Washington family coat-of-arms. (See more theories here)

As for “Old Glory”…The original Old Glory was made and presented to the young Captain Driver by his mother and some young ladies of his native Salem, Massachusetts. The year is uncertain, but it was probably sometime in the 1820s. It is a large flag, measuring 10 feet by 17 feet, heavily constructed and designed to be flown from a ship’s mast. It originally had 24 stars and, symbolic of its nautical purpose, includes a small anchor sewn in the corner of its blue canton. The captain was very pleased with his gift, and kept it with him always. By most accounts, he first hailed the flag as “Old Glory,” when he left harbor for a trip around the world in 1831-1832, as commander of the whaling vessel Charles Doggett. Old Glory served as the ship’s official flag throughout the voyage. (Read the rest of the story here)

Lady Liberty: Liberty, Freedom; Nickname for the Statue of Liberty
Ex: Lady Liberty has been in a Hitchcock movie, a Will Smith movie and an X-Men film. Impressive resume.

Origin: A gift from the country of France in honor of 100 years of American independence, the Statue of Liberty quickly became a popular icon, featured in scores of posters, pictures, motion pictures, and books. A 1911 O. Henry story relates a fanciful conversation between “Mrs. Liberty” and another statue; it figured in 1918 Liberty Loan posters. During the 1940s and 1950s, pulp Science Fiction magazines featured Lady Liberty surrounded by ruins or by the sediments of the ages. It has been in dozens of motion pictures. (Wikipedia)

American Flag image courtesy of uhuru1701/Creative Commons, Uncle Sam image courtesy of JongWoo Chung/Creative Commons, Lady Liberty photo courtesy of laverrue/Creative Commons