LANCASTER, Ohio, June 25 (DC Times Online) — State capitols from Austin to Juneau were among the public stops in the early life of the 50-star U.S. flag Bob Heft said he designed as a teenager. For travelers who visit capitol buildings, the story adds a layer of history to places that already serve as popular civic landmarks: in the early 1960s, Heft’s flag was raised over a long list of statehouses as the new national flag spread across the country.
Who was Bob Heft?
Bob Heft was a 17-year-old high school junior in Lancaster, Ohio, when he said he came up with the design that became the 50-star flag. In a StoryCorps oral history, Heft said the project started as a history-class assignment. He said he had watched his mother sew and used that experience to make the flag by hand.
Heft later said he had “designed the flag of our country, the current flag.” He also said, “It’s not just a piece of cloth, it’s the fabric of America.”
How did a school project become a national symbol?
Heft said his teacher, Stanley Pratt, gave him a B- on the project and told him, “If you don’t like the grade, get it accepted in Washington then come back and see me.”
That challenge became part of the flag’s legend. In Heft’s account, he sent the flag to President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1959 and asked him to adopt the design for the nation’s new flag, as Hawaii was on track to become the 50th state.
A White House letter from Eisenhower’s chief of staff, Wilton B. Persons, thanked Heft. Heft also wrote that he had made and flown the first 50-star flag in the United States, and that the flag was first flown on March 7, 1959.
When did the 50-star flag become official?
Once Hawaii became the 50th state in August 1959, the 50-star design matched the country’s new status. The official U.S. flag with 50 stars took effect on July 4, 1960.
Heft later said a congressman told him President Eisenhower had selected his design. In his StoryCorps interview, Heft recalled that the teacher later changed his grade to an A.
Where did the flag travel after that?
The flag’s story did not stop in Washington. Fox News reported that Heft’s original handmade flag was flown over at least 40 state capitol buildings from 1960 to 1962, including New York, California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Utah, Nebraska, and Alaska.
One of those displays took place at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Oct. 5, 1960. According to Fox News’ report of Gov. Price Daniel’s remarks, the flag flew for five hours before rain and high wind ended the display. Daniel said it “would have been displayed all day except for a rain and high wind which started about 12 p.m.”
Ohio Gov. Michael DiSalle also wrote to Heft that he was “pleased to verify your story that yours was the first 50-star flag displayed in Ohio on Ohio property.”
What should travelers know?
For visitors planning stops at state capitols, Heft’s story is a reminder that these buildings often serve as more than government offices. They can also be places where national symbols are first shown to the public.
The route of Heft’s flag—through Washington, D.C., Ohio, Texas, Alaska and other states—shows how one handmade project from Lancaster became part of the public history seen at capitols across the country.
The available accounts do not fully resolve every detail. The number of capitol buildings and embassies where the flag was displayed varies by source, and the surviving snippets do not include full archival records for every claim. But the basic outline is consistent: Heft said he made the flag as a teenager, sent it to Washington, and later saw it accepted as the nation’s new banner.
