The 46 star flag was a 8 7 8 8 7 8 arrangement * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I think it looks clunky Thane Plambeck 650 321 4884 office 650 323 4928 fax http://www.qxmail.com/ehome.htm ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Conway" <conway@Math.Princeton.EDU> To: "math-fun" <math-fun@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Friday, September 05, 2003 8:37 AM Subject: Re: [math-fun] The problem of the 51st state.
On Fri, 5 Sep 2003, Thane Plambeck wrote:
There is a very nice display of historical US flags, with a particular emphasis on the arrangement of the stars over time, in the San Francisco airport international terminal, or at least there was, as recently as 4 weeks ago.
I wanted to take pictures of it but forgot my digital camera. I got the impression from the display that for a large fraction of US history, the arrangement of stars has been left to the flag maker. There were flags with circular symmetry, for example, involving 23-29 stars or so I think.
I also remember that all the flags were from one person's collection in San Francisco, or somewhere nearby.
I've thought the 46 star flag shown at the URL below must not be the best possible.
I don't know how to read that - can you roughly draw or describe it for me? JHC
_______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun