Reminder - This script was developed with a cast of 6 students at a school in Russia in mind. Should you wish to use this script for your own class, you are free to edit it as needed for more or fewer students as well as change the language level. Also, there will be a PowerPoint presentation in the background that will show the many flags we will talk about.
CAST
Narrator
George Washington
Bill Ross
Benjamin Franklin
John Paul Jones
Francis Scott Key
British Officer
Lester Pearson
John Matheson
George Stanley
Teacher
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Student 4
Student 5
Student 6
Narrator enters.
Narrator: In 1775, the American Revolutionary War with Great Britain started. One year later, on July 4th, America declared independence. But America didn’t have a flag. According to legend, George Washington, general of the American Army and the future first President of the United States, asked Betsy Ross, a seamstress, to make a flag that America could use.
Narrator exits. George and Bill enter.
George: Bill! How are you?
Bill: I’m great, George. How about you? I heard Congress made you the General of the Continental Army.
George: That’s right. I’m honored to have the position but it’s very hard. The British Army is the best in the world.
Bill: Is the war going well?
George: Not at the moment. I need a symbol of hope for my soldiers.
Bill: What do you have in mind?
George: A flag. I know your wife likes to sew. Maybe you could ask her to make a flag?
Bill: Sure. Sure! What would you like?
George: Our current flag has 13 stripes and in the corner, there’s the image of a British flag. Congress wants to turn the British flag into a blue square with 13 six-pointed stars.
Bill: I understand. I’ll talk to my wife.
Bill and George leave to different ends of the stage. Narrator enters.
Narrator: Congress decided the American flag would have 13 red and white stripes and 13 white stars on a blue field to represent the 13 colonies.
Narrator exits. Bill and George enter.
Bill: Hey, George, I have your flag. However, there’s just one minor difference.
George: What’s that?
Bill: My wife made the stars with five points each. She said it’s much easier and quicker to make.
George: I see. Well, it looks good. I’ll take it.
George and Bill leave. Narrator enters.
Narrator: This is the story of how Betsy Ross made the first American flag. However, there’s no evidence that supports or rejects this legend. No one knows who made the first flag, but this story is still popular to tell in America. Betsy Ross was important though. She was the person who decided to make the stars with five points since it was faster to make. The flag was made and it soon meant hope for the young revolution.
PLAY VIDEO CLIP FROM THE PATRIOT (0:13 – 1:10)
Benjamin Franklin enters.
Narrator: Benjamin Franklin, a famous inventor and politician, helped design the flag.
Benjamin: Congress has decided the American flag will have 13 alternating red and white stripes and 13 white stars on a blue square.
Narrator: There was one problem with Congress’ declaration. They gave no picture and the instructions could be confusing, especially for John Paul Jones, an American Naval captain.
Narrator exits. John Paul Jones enters.
John: Ben! I’m in a little trouble. My ship “The Serapis” is stuck in a Dutch port and the British are saying I’m a pirate since I don’t have a flag. Could you describe the new flag for me so that I can make one?
Benjamin: Sure! It has 13 stripes alternating red, white and blue stripes with a small blue square in the top left corner. On the square, there are 13 white stars.
John: Awesome. Thanks, Ben!
John Paul Jones exits, running. He enters a second later with a flag/sheet with a flag on it.
John: I’ve got my flag now. I wasn’t sure which type of stars the flag had so they’re eight-pointed stars. See?
John points at his new flag.
Ben: Um, that’s not our flag.
John: Well, it’s the only flag I have. It HAS to work.
Benjamin and John exit. Narrator enters.
Narrator: Fortunately for John Paul Jones, the flag did work. But Congress’ poor directions meant many unique flags flew in battle during the Revolutionary War. Here are some of them.
Narrator points at screen which shows various US flags used during battles.
Narrator: A popular hobby for some Americans is to dress like soldiers from the war and pretend to fight the battles.
PLAY VIDEO CLIP OF BATTLE REENACTMENT
Scene Two
Narrator: In 1783, the war ended, and in 1789, America finished its Constitution. When America added two more states, the government changed the flag so that it had 15 stripes and 15 stars. This was the flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 when Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that would become America’s national anthem.
Narrator exits. Francis enters.
PLAY SOUND OF BATTLE AND CANNONFIRE
Francis: What to do, what to do? I can hear the fire of cannons and the sounds of muskets and men yelling.
British Officer enters.
British Officer: Mr. Key, I’m sorry you’re here at this time but we’re about to start our bombardment of Fort McHenry.
Francis: What!? What happens if we get hit? I’m just a lawyer!
British Officer: I’m sorry, sir, but we can’t let you go at the moment. The bombardment will start in five minutes and we need to join our fleet. We can’t fire on the American Fort from any close than our maximum range.
British Officer exits.
Francis: This is horrible.
Francis walks around. PLAY SOUND OF CANNONFIRE. Narrator enters.
Narrator: Francis Scott Key listened to the British bombing all night. In the morning, the first thing he did was look out the window.
Narrator exits. Francis points at the screen.
Francis: I see it! The flag still flies.
British Officer enters.
British Officer: Sir, the bombardment is over. The British Navy is leaving. You’ll be free to leave as soon as we leave the Baltimore area.
British Officer leaves.
Francis: That is an amazing view – the way the flag still stands over the Fort. How can I remember it? I know. I’ll start writing a poem. I’ll call it “The Defense of Fort McHenry.”
Francis sits at a table and starts writing.
Francis: O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light. What so proudly we hailed, at the twilight’s last gleaming…
PLAY AMERICAN NATIONAL ANTHEM WITH LYRICS
REMAINING MUSIC TEXT:
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Narrator enters.
Narrator: Francis Scott Key’s poem eventually became so popular that it was used for America’s national anthem.
Francis exits.
Narrator: Over the next 150 years, the flag would change many times as more states joined the country. The government said the flag would have 13 stripes to symbolize the original states while the stars would increase as the number of states increased. The current American flag has been used since 1960. The flag represents American unity, and people see the flag at every major battle, event, government building and major disaster.
PLAY US NATIONAL ANTHEM INSTRUMENTAL VERSION
Scene Three
Narrator: Britain and France had colonies in Canada, causing parts of Canada to use either a French flag or a British flag until all of Canada was ruled by the British. For over 150 years, Canada used the flags of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. In 1921, Canada began to use a flag with the Canadian maple leaf, the French fleur-de-lys and the UK’s Union Jack. Then, in 1964, Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson said Canada must have its own flag, causing “The Great Flag Debate.”
Narrator exits. Lester enters.
Lester: Citizens of Canada, I promise to make a flag for our great nation.
John Matheson enters. Lester points at him.
Lester: John, I want to give Canada a flag. I have an idea. Three red maple leaves on a white square with blue rectangles on both ends of the flag.
John: But there’s no mention of our British heritage! There’s no Union Jack!
Lester: It’s time for Canada to make its own heritage. I will make a committee to select the new flag.
John: It’s June! Parliament will go on vacation next week!
Lester: Too bad. No vacation for Parliament. We must have a flag. Canada must have a flag.
Narrator enters.
Narrator: Lester Pearson canceled vacation for Parliament. Parliament worked all summer, autumn and winter on the Flag.
Narrator exits.
John: Prime Minister, we have three finalists. One includes your design and one is a single red maple leaf with red squares at both ends with a Union Jack and a Fleur-de-lys.
Lester: And the third?
John: The third is designed by George Stanley, a local historian. I invited him to explain how he came up with his design.
George enters.
George: Good afternoon, Prime Minister.
Lester: Hello. Please, explain your design.
George: I was standing outside the Royal Military College of Canada when I saw its flag. It had two red squares and the school symbol. I told John, “There’s your flag!” It is important that the new flag of Canada be unique. It can’t have British or French heritage on it if we want to be our own people. Therefore, we use the maple leaf with two red squares.
Lester: Your idea is a good one, but it must come to a vote.
Lester looks out to the audience.
Lester: All those in favor of the Blue flag?
Silence.
Lester: No one. All those in favor of the flag with the British Union Jack and the Fleur-de-lys?
Silence.
Lester: No one again. All those in favor of George’s flag?
Everyone offstage shouts “Aye!”
Lester: Your flag has been selected.
John shakes George’s hand.
John: Congratulations. I believe your flag is an excellent design and it will serve Canada well.
PLAY “O CANADA”
Everyone exits.
Scene Four
Teacher enters.
Teacher: The Flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is commonly known as the Union Jack. While the Union Jack does have a lot of history, its history is not nearly as dramatic. The flag represents the union between the countries of England, Scotland and Ireland. If you look closely, you’ll see the flag consists of the countries’ individual flags – the St. George’s Cross of England (a red cross on a white background), the St. Andrew’s Cross of Scotland (a white X on a blue background) and the St. Patrick’s Cross of Ireland (a red X on a white background). The Union Jack became necessary when the Queen of England, Elizabeth I, died without a son or daughter. The English crown then became her cousin’s, James VI of Scotland.
King James enters and kneels, followed by his knight. A church bishop places a crown on his head.
Teacher: James wanted a new flag to show the union of the crowns so he combined the flags of England and Scotland.
King James stands and points at the Union Jack and nods his head in approval.
This served as the flag of Great Britain until 1801, when the current flag was made after Ireland merged with Great Britain. As a representation of the UK’s historical reach, today you can see many flags from around the world with the Union Jack.
PLAY UK NATIONAL ANTHEM
Scene Five
Teacher: And finally, if we’re talking about flags for Flag Day, we should talk about the history of the Russian flag.
PLAY RUSSIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM QUIETLY
Student 1: Our current flag with red, blue and white stripes has been used since at least 1696 and its design was based on the Dutch flag. Since 1712, the Russian Navy has used St. Andrew’s Flag, a blue X on a white background.
Student 2: The only time when the Navy didn’t use the St. Andrew’s Flag was from 1917 to 1991, when the Navy used the Soviet Union flag.
Student 3: When the Soviet Union created its flag, it used the hammer and sickle to represent the union of workers and peasants. The symbol has since become the symbol of Marxism.
Student 4: The red field symbolised the blood of workers and farmers who fought for independence.
Student 5: After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation returned to using the old tricolor flag, which Russia has used to this day.
Student 6: There is no official meaning for the colors of the Russian flag but the most idea is white means generosity, blue means loyalty and red means courage.
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