LANCASTER, Ohio, June 25 (DC Times Online) — For travelers who like American history, Bob Heft’s story connects several civic landmarks: Lancaster, Ohio, where the project began; Washington, D.C., where the design was sent; and state capitols across the country where the flag later flew.
Heft said he was 17 when he created the 50-star U.S. flag as a high school history assignment in Lancaster. In his StoryCorps oral history, Heft recalled that he sewed the flag himself and that his teacher, Stanley Pratt, gave him a B- and challenged him to get the design accepted in Washington.
That challenge became the center of a story Heft told for years. Heft said he mailed the flag to President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1959, asking him to adopt it for the nation’s new flag when Hawaii became the 50th state. In Heft’s telling, Eisenhower later called him to Washington for a ceremony and the grade was changed to an A.
What made the flag different?
The United States had to update its flag each time a state joined the Union. Heft’s design used 50 stars to represent all 50 states, and the sources in this story say he made it before the design was officially adopted.
StoryCorps preserves Heft’s first-person account of the project. Ohio Magazine and other historical retellings say Heft made the flag in 1958, before the 50-state version became official on July 4, 1960.
Did Heft’s design really get adopted?
Heft said it did, and the available accounts say the Eisenhower administration later selected his design. Guideposts and Ohio Magazine both retell the story of a call from Congress saying the president had chosen Heft’s flag. In one Guideposts account, Congressman Walter Moeller is quoted telling Heft that President Eisenhower had selected his design.
The exact documentary record is not fully shown in the materials available here, but the story has long been repeated in Heft’s own words and in later historical features.
Why do state capitols matter in this story?
Heft’s flag did not stay in one place. Fox News reported that from 1960 to 1962, it was flown over at least 40 state capitol buildings, including those in New York, California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Utah, Nebraska and Alaska.
The same Fox News report said the flag was flown over the Texas State Capitol in Austin for five hours on Oct. 5, 1960, before rain and high wind shortened the display. Texas Gov. Price Daniel was quoted saying it would have been displayed all day except for the weather.
Fox News also reported that Ohio Gov. Michael DiSalle wrote 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 take away?
For visitors interested in U.S. history, the Bob Heft story is less about one museum stop than about a trail of public buildings. The places tied to the story are the kinds of landmarks many travelers already visit: a hometown in Ohio, the White House and Capitol area in Washington, D.C., and state capitols from Texas to Alaska.
The practical takeaway is simple: if a trip includes a state capitol or other civic landmark, it may also connect to the history of the flag overhead. Heft’s story shows how a school project from Lancaster became part of the national symbol travelers see on government buildings, memorials and public grounds across the country.
That is why the story still travels well. It is a reminder that one student’s class assignment became a symbol carried far beyond Ohio.
What is still unclear?
The available accounts do not fully settle every detail. The number of capitol buildings that displayed the flag varies by source, and embassy counts also vary. Some retellings say Heft’s flag was flown at more than 130 embassies, while others say 88. The snippets available here do not explain the difference.
Even with those gaps, the core story is consistent: Heft said he made the 50-star flag as a teenager, sent it to Washington, and later saw it become the flag Americans know today.
