At its best, flags can be powerful symbols. Flags can represent pride, hope, resilience, history, and the future. At the worst, they are symbols of hate and can incite fear and trigger trauma.

A flag resolution was adopted 248 years ago, on June 14, 1777, that said, "Resolved: that the flag of the United States be made of 13 stripes, ... America's flag throughout history.

For the first time, our nation's American flag was flown in battle, on this day in history, Sept. 3, 1777, during a Revolutionary War skirmish at Cooch's Bridge, Delaware. Here's the background.