Flying Saturday July 4, 2009.

Fourth of July............Stars and Stripes today!!

In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.

Listen to Stars and Stripes Forever", a patriotic American march widely considered to be the magnum opus of composer John Philip Sousa. By act of Congress, it is the National March of the United States of America. Click on the flag....

The flag of the United States consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars. The fifty stars on the flag represent the fifty U.S. states. It is sometimes said that the thirteen stripes represent the original thirteen colonies that rebelled against the British Crown and became the first states in the Union.

Nicknames for the flag include the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, and The Star-Spangled Banner (also the name of the national anthem).

John Sousa

John Philip Sousa was born in Washington, D.C. on November 6, 1854 His parents were of Portuguese, Spanish, and Bavarian (German) descent; his grandparents were Portuguese refugees. Sousa started his music education by playing the violin at the age of six. When Sousa reached the age of 13, his father, a trombonist in the Marine Band, enlisted his son in the United States Marine Corps as an apprentice to keep him from joining a circus band. Sousa served his apprenticeship for seven.

The Sousaphone

The Sousaphone was developed in the 1890s by C.G. Conn at the request of John Philip Sousa, who was unhappy with the hélicons used at that time by the United States Marine Band.