Tag: America

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History

Flags of the United States

infographic

Rebellious Stripes (1767/ 13 Colonies)

(Public Domain)

Flown from the Boston Liberty Tree, this banner was created o the sons of Liberty political organization to protest against Snish taxation and support Americas economic freedom.

Hulbert Flag (1775/ 13 Colonies)

(Public Domain)

Designed and carried by Capt. John Hulbert from Fort Ticonderoga to Philadelphia during (he American Revolution, this flag’s six-pointed stars are arranged in the cross of St Andrew.

Continental Colors (1775/ 13 Colonies)

(Public Domain)

Ordered by Gen. George Washington to be raised on Prospect Hill on New Year’s Day 1776, this flag was flown to celebrate the creation of the Continental Army.

Washington’s Commander-in-Chief Flag (1775/ 13 Colonies)

(Public Domain)

This flag was the personal standard of the Commander of the Continental Army.

Betsy Ross Flag (1776/ 13 Colonies)

(Public Domain)

Legend has it that Betsy Ross convinced Gen. Washington to forego the six-pointed star by showing how to make a five-pointed one with a snip of her scissors. The flag would represent the new nation.

Francis Hopkinson Flag (1777/ 13 Sovereign States)

(Public Domain)

Officially adopted by the Continental Congress as the first national flag, this banner was designed by the Secretary of Navy Francis Hopkinson while serving on the Continental Marine Committee.

Shaw Flag (1783/ 13 Sovereign States)

(Public Domain)

This flag was commissioned by the Governor’s Council of Maryland to fly in Annapolis (America’s first peacetime national capital) while the Continental Congress was in session.

Star-Spangled Banner (1813/ 18 States)

(Public Domain)

This was the garrison flag of Fort McHenry in Baltimore under Maj. George Armistead. The 15 stars and stripes marked the joining of Vermont and Kentucky to the Union.

20-Star Flag  (1818/ 20 States)

(Public Domain)

James Monroe was the only president to serve under this flag. Five stars were added for the admission of Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, and Mississippi into the Union.

Old Glory ( 1824/ 24 States & 1862/ 34 States)

(Public Domain)

Also known as the William Driver Flag, it was kept hidden in a quilt during the Civil War. This flag was hoisted onto the dome of Tennessee’s capitol following Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s victory at Fort Donelson in 1862.

Fort Sumter Diamond (1861/ 34 States)

(Public Domain)

Following the Battle of Fort Sumter in the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln decided against removing the stars of the seceded states, since his goal was to preserve the Union.

37-Star Flag (1867/ 37 States)

(Public Domain)

This medallion star arrangement was a popular choice during the Civil War and up until the 1890s. The center star represents Nebraska, the newest state added to the Union. 

48-Star Flag (1912/ 48 States)

(Public Domain)

This flag was in use for 47 years: through two world wars and eight presidential terms.

50-Star Flag (1959/ 50 States)

(Public Domain)

Bob G. Heft designed this flag for his high school history class project, incorporating two stars for the possibility that Alaska and Hawaii would join the Union. The design was later chosen by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Flag Symbolism

50 Stars for the 50 states of the Union

13 Stripes for the original 13 colonies

Red represents hardiness, valor, courage, and the readiness to sacrifice for one’s country.

White stands for purity and innocence.

Blue signifies justice for all, a reminder to remain watchful and strong.

From American Essence Volume 2 June edition

Categories
Features American Success

How a Group of Friends Escaped War in Yugoslavia, Found Freedom in America, and Opened Award-Winning Bakery

Co-founders Uliks Fehmiuand and Bane Stamenkovic. (Tatsiana Moon for American Essence)

Can friendship survive a war, migration to another country, and life’s ups and downs? One group of friends from former Yugoslavia has demonstrated that a strong friendship bond can overcome any tribulation.

There’s Uliks Fehmiu, an Albanian who loves acting and still participates in film projects in Serbian and Bosnian; Bane Stamenkovic, whom Mr. Fehmiu first met when he was 7, then going through high school and later mandatory military service together; Igor Ivanovic, who played a pivotal role in Pain d’Avignon’s founding but later left to start his own bakery; and Vojin Vujosevic, who was always the cool kid in the group.

Pain d’Avignon was among the first in the Northeast to offer artisanal bread. (Ed Anderson)

They all eventually made their way to New York to escape getting drafted into the war and, incidentally, fell into the world of baking. Together, they formed Pain d’Avignon, a boutique wholesale bakery for high-end restaurants and hotels in New York. In 2009, the bakery expanded to offer their selections to ordinary New Yorkers via cafes, opening four retail stores alongside pop-ups within hotels across the city.

The path to success wasn’t easy, but every step was buoyed by the knowledge that there was no turning back to the violence and hatred back home. Whatever hardships they would go through, they would go through them together as friends.

“Our story can never be only about the bread and its technical aspect, because to us, it represents this odyssey, this journey, this element of survival, this moment of adaptation … into a new country, new environment,” said Mr. Fehmiu in an interview.

A Friendship Forged

Growing up in Yugoslavia before the Yugoslav Wars broke up the Balkan Peninsula, the group of friends lived in a place not unlike New York: Different cultures and religions intersected in a region bordered by Italy, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Albania. “It’s where Austro-Hungarian and Oriental architecture clash beautifully. Where one could ski in the Alps in the morning and swim in the Adriatic that afternoon. Where, in the same pastry shop, one could find baklava by way of Turkey or Greece and Sachertorte compliments of the Viennese,” wrote Mr. Fehmiu in the bakery’s 2022 cookbook, “The Pain d’Avignon Baking Book.” It was an idyllic time filled with beautiful memories for the four childhood friends.

(L to R) Cofounders Tole Zurovac, Mr. Stamenkovic, and Mr. Fehmiu, with Mr. Fehmiu’s wife, Snezana Bogdanovic. (Ed Anderson)

When, in the late 1980s, tensions ran high and war seemed imminent, the friends each found ways to escape the draft. Mr. Ivanovic became the reason they ended up in baking. After he got discharged from mandatory military service, he headed straight to New York. While there, he hung out with fellow Serbs, some of whom worked for Eli Zabar, a popular bakery and supermarket in the city. He soon found a job delivering bread at Eli’s.

Mr. Stamenkovic joined his family in New York (his father was a textile executive and moved there for business) as soon as he finished military service, while Mr. Vujosevic returned to America for studies at the persuasion of his parents, who saw an increasingly volatile situation back home and wanted him to stay away. For several years, Mr. Fehmiu was the only one remaining in Belgrade, hoping to develop his acting career. But by spring 1992, things came to a head. The military police came looking for him. With his mother’s warning, he was able to stay at a friend’s house and later flee to Macedonia. From there, he made his way to New York.

…

(This is a short preview of a story from the Nov. Issue, Volume 3.)