document_title: Flag of the United States

question_text: how many stars were on the original american flag

question_tokens: how many stars were on the original american flag

text: Flag of the United States

text: History

text: The current design of the U.S. flag is its 27th; the design of the flag has been modified officially 26 times since 1777. The 48-star flag was in effect for 47 years until the 49-star version became official on July 4, 1959. The 50-star flag was ordered by the then president Eisenhower on August 21, 1959, and was adopted in July 1960. It is the longest-used version of the U.S. flag and has been in use for over 57 years.[4]

text: First flag

text:
The Continental Colors
(aka the "Grand Union Flag")

Flag of the British East India Company, 1707–1801

text: At the time of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the Continental Congress would not legally adopt flags with "stars, white in a blue field" for another year. The flag contemporaneously known as "the Continental Colors" has historically been referred to as the first national flag.[5]

text: The Continental Navy raised the Colors as the ensign of the fledgling nation in the American War for Independence—likely with the expedient of transforming their previous British red ensigns by adding white stripes—and would use this flag until 1777, when it would form the basis for the subsequent de jure designs.[5][6]

text: The name "Grand Union" was first applied to the Continental Colors by George Preble in his 1872 history of the U.S. flag.[6]

text: The flag closely resembles the British East India Company flag of the era, and Sir Charles Fawcett argued in 1937 that the company flag inspired the design.[7] Both flags could have been easily constructed by adding white stripes to a British Red Ensign, one of the three maritime flags used throughout the British Empire at the time. However, an East India Company flag could have from nine to 13 stripes, and was not allowed to be flown outside the Indian Ocean.[8]

text: In any case, both the stripes (barry) and the stars (mullets) have precedents in classical heraldry. Mullets were comparatively rare in early modern heraldry, but an example of mullets representing territorial divisions predating the U.S. flag are those in the coat of arms of Valais of 1618, where seven mullets stood for seven districts.

text: The Flag Resolution of 1777

text: On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution which stated: "Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."[9] Flag Day is now observed on June 14 of each year. While scholars still argue about this, tradition holds that the new flag was first hoisted in June 1777 by the Continental Army at the Middlebrook encampment.[10]

text: The first official U.S. flag flown during battle was on August 3, 1777, at Fort Schuyler (Fort Stanwix) during the Siege of Fort Stanwix. Massachusetts reinforcements brought news of the adoption by Congress of the official flag to Fort Schuyler. Soldiers cut up their shirts to make the white stripes; scarlet material to form the red was secured from red flannel petticoats of officers' wives, while material for the blue union was secured from Capt. Abraham Swartwout's blue cloth coat. A voucher is extant that Capt. Swartwout of Dutchess County was paid by Congress for his coat for the flag.[11]

text: The 1777 resolution was most probably meant to define a naval ensign. In the late 18th century, the notion of a national flag did not yet exist, or was only nascent. The flag resolution appears between other resolutions from the Marine Committee. On May 10, 1779, Secretary of the Board of War Richard Peters expressed concern "it is not yet settled what is the Standard of the United States."[12] However, the term, "Standard," referred to a national standard for the Army of the United States. Each regiment was to carry the national standard in addition to its regimental standard. The national standard was not a reference to the national or naval flag.[13]

text: The Flag Resolution did not specify any particular arrangement, number of points, nor orientation for the stars and the arrangement or whether the flag had to have seven red stripes and six white ones or vice versa.[14] The appearance was up to the maker of the flag. Some flag makers arranged the stars into one big star, in a circle or in rows and some replaced a state's star with its initial.[15] One arrangement features 13 five-pointed stars arranged in a circle, with the stars arranged pointing outwards from the circle (as opposed to up), the so-called Betsy Ross flag. This flag, however, is more likely a flag used for celebrations of anniversaries of the nation's birthday. Experts have dated the earliest known example of this flag to be 1792 in a painting by John Trumbull.[16]

text: Despite the 1777 resolution, the early years of American independence featured many different flags. Most were individually crafted rather than mass-produced. While there are many examples of 13-star arrangements, some of those flags included blue stripes as well as red and white. Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, in a letter dated October 3, 1778, to Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, described the American flag as consisting of "13 stripes, alternately red, white, and blue, a small square in the upper angle, next the flag staff, is a blue field, with 13 white stars, denoting a new Constellation."[17] John Paul Jones used a variety of 13-star flags on his U.S. Navy ships including the well-documented 1779 flags of the Serapis and the Alliance. The Serapis flag had three rows of eight-pointed stars with stripes that were red, white, and blue. The flag for the Alliance, however, had five rows of eight-pointed stars with 13 red and white stripes, and the white stripes were on the outer edges.[18] Both flags were documented by the Dutch government in October 1779, making them two of the earliest known flags of 13 stars.[19]

text: Designer of the first stars and stripes

text: Francis Hopkinson of New Jersey, a naval flag designer, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, designed the 1777 flag[20] while he was the Chairman of the Continental Navy Board's Middle Department, sometime between his appointment to that position in November 1776 and the time that the flag resolution was adopted in June 1777. The Navy Board was under the Continental Marine Committee.[21] Not only did Hopkinson claim that he designed the U.S. flag, but he also claimed that he designed a flag for the U.S. Navy. Hopkinson was the only person to have made such a claim during his own lifetime, when he sent a letter and several bills to Congress for his work. These claims are documented in the Journals of the Continental Congress and George Hasting's biography of Hopkinson. Hopkinson initially wrote a letter to Congress, via the Continental Board of Admiralty, on May 25, 1780.[22] In this letter, he asked for a "Quarter Cask of the Public Wine" as payment for designing the U.S. flag, the seal for the Admiralty Board, the seal for the Treasury Board, Continental currency, the Great Seal of the United States, and other devices. However, in three subsequent bills to Congress, Hopkinson asked to be paid in cash, but he did not list his U.S. flag design. Instead, he asked to be paid for designing the "great Naval Flag of the United States" in the first bill; the "Naval Flag of the United States" in the second bill; and "the Naval Flag of the States" in the third, along with the other items. The flag references were generic terms for the naval ensign that Hopkinson had designed, that is, a flag of seven red stripes and six white ones. The predominance of red stripes made the naval flag more visible against the sky on a ship at sea. By contrast, Hopkinson's flag for the United States had seven white stripes, and six red ones – in reality, six red stripes laid on a white background.[23] Hopkinson's sketches have not been found, but we can make these conclusions because Hopkinson incorporated different stripe arrangements in the Admiralty (naval) Seal that he designed in the Spring of 1780 and the Great Seal of the United States that he proposed at the same time. His Admiralty Seal had seven red stripes;[24] whereas, his second U.S. Seal proposal had seven white ones.[25] Hopkinson's flag for the Navy is the one that the Nation preferred as the national flag. Remnants of Hopkinson's U.S. flag of seven white stripes can be found in the Great Seal of the United States and the President's seal.[23] When Hopkinson was chairman of the Navy Board, his position was like that of today's Secretary of the Navy.[26] The payment was not made, however, because it was determined he had already received a salary as a member of Congress.[27][28] This contradicts the legend of the Betsy Ross flag, which suggests that she sewed the first Stars and Stripes flag by request of the government in the Spring of 1776.[29][30] Furthermore, a letter from the War Board to George Washington on May 10, 1779, documents that there was still no design established for a national flag for the Army's use in battle.[31]

text: The origin of the stars and stripes design has been muddled by a story disseminated by the descendants of Betsy Ross. The apocryphal story credits Betsy Ross for sewing the first flag from a pencil sketch handed to her by George Washington. No evidence for this exists either in the diaries of George Washington nor in the records of the Continental Congress. Indeed, nearly a century passed before Ross' grandson, William Canby, first publicly suggested the story in 1870.[32] By her family's own admission, Ross ran an upholstery business, and she had never made a flag as of the supposed visit in June 1776.[33] Furthermore, her grandson admitted that his own search through the Journals of Congress and other official records failed to find corroboration of his grandmother's story.[34]

text: The family of Rebecca Young claimed that she sewed the first flag.[35] Young's daughter was Mary Pickersgill, who made the Star Spangled Banner Flag.[36][37] According to rumor, the Washington family coat of arms, shown in a 15th-century window of Selby Abbey, was the origin of the stars and stripes.[38]

text: Later flag acts

text: In 1795, the number of stars and stripes was increased from 13 to 15 (to reflect the entry of Vermont and Kentucky as states of the Union). For a time the flag was not changed when subsequent states were admitted, probably because it was thought that this would cause too much clutter. It was the 15-star, 15-stripe flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "Defence of Fort M'Henry", later known as "The Star Spangled Banner", which is now the American national anthem. The flag is currently on display in the exhibition, "The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag That Inspired the National Anthem" at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History in a two-story display chamber that protects the flag while it is on view.[39]

text: On April 4, 1818, a plan was passed by Congress at the suggestion of U.S. Naval Captain Samuel C. Reid[40] in which the flag was changed to have 20 stars, with a new star to be added when each new state was admitted, but the number of stripes would be reduced to 13 so as to honor the original colonies. The act specified that new flag designs should become official on the first July 4 (Independence Day) following admission of one or more new states. The most recent change, from 49 stars to 50, occurred in 1960 when the present design was chosen, after Hawaii gained statehood in August 1959. Before that, the admission of Alaska in January 1959 prompted the debut of a short-lived 49-star flag.[41]

text: Prior to the adoption of the 48-star flag in 1912, there was no official arrangement of the stars in the canton, although the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy used standardized designs. Throughout the 19th century there was an abundance of different star patterns, rectangular and circular.

text: On July 4, 2007, the 50-star flag became the version of the flag in longest use, surpassing the 48-star flag that was used from 1912 to 1959.

text: The "Flower Flag" arrives in Asia

text: The U.S. flag was brought to the city of Canton (Guǎngzhōu) in China in 1784 by the merchant ship Empress of China, which carried a cargo of ginseng.[42] There it gained the designation "Flower Flag" (Chinese: 花旗; pinyin: huāqí; Cantonese Yale: fākeì).[43] According to a pseudonymous account first published in the Boston Courier and later retold by author and U.S. naval officer George H. Preble:

text: When the thirteen stripes and stars first appeared at Canton, much curiosity was excited among the people. News was circulated that a strange ship had arrived from the further end of the world, bearing a flag "as beautiful as a flower." Every body went to see the kwa kee chuen [花旗船; Fākeìsyùhn], or "flower flagship." This name at once established itself in the language, and America is now called the kwa kee kwoh [花旗國; Fākeìgwok], the "flower flag country"—and an American, kwa kee kwoh yin [花旗國人; Fākeìgwokyàhn]—"flower flag countryman"—a more complimentary designation than that of "red headed barbarian"—the name first bestowed upon the Dutch.[44][45]

text: In the above quote, the Chinese words are written phonetically based on spoken Cantonese. The names given were common usage in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.[46] Other Asian nations have equivalent terms for America, for example Vietnamese: Hoa Kỳ ("Flower Flag"). Chinese now refer to the United States as simplified Chinese: 美国; traditional Chinese: 美國; pinyin: Měiguó. Měi is short for Měilìjiān (simplified Chinese: 美利坚; traditional Chinese: 美利堅, phono-semantic matching of "American") and "guó" means "country", so this name is unrelated to the flag. However, the "flower flag" terminology persists in some places today: for example, American Ginseng is called simplified Chinese: 花旗参; traditional Chinese: 花旗參; literally: "flower flag ginseng" in Chinese, and Citibank, which opened a branch in China in 1902, is known as 花旗银行; "Flower Flag Bank".[46]

text: The U.S. flag took its first trip around the world in 1787–90 on board the Columbia.[43] William Driver, who coined the phrase "Old Glory", took the U.S. flag around the world in 1831–32.[43] The flag attracted the notice of Japanese when an oversized version was carried to Yokohama by the steamer Great Republic as part of a round-the-world journey in 1871.[47]

text: Historical progression of designs

text: In the following table depicting the 28 various designs of the United States flag, the star patterns for the flags are merely the usual patterns, often associated with the United States Navy. Canton designs, prior to the proclamation of the 48-star flag, had no official arrangement of the stars. Furthermore, the exact colors of the flag were not standardized until 1934.[48]

text:
Number of
stars
Number of
stripes
Design(s)
States represented
by new stars
Dates in use
Duration

0
13

Union Jack instead of stars, red and white stripes represent Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia
000000001775-12-03-0000December 3, 1775[49] – June 14, 1777
018 ! 1 1⁄2 years

13
13

Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia
000000001777-06-14-0000June 14, 1777 – May 1, 1795
215 !18 years

15
15

Vermont, Kentucky
000000001795-05-01-0000May 1, 1795 – July 3, 1818
278 !23 years

20
13

Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee
000000001818-07-04-0000July 4, 1818 – July 3, 1819
012 !1 year

21
13

Illinois
000000001819-07-04-0000July 4, 1819 – July 3, 1820
012 !1 year

23
13

Alabama, Maine
000000001820-07-04-0000July 4, 1820 – July 3, 1822
024 !2 years

24
13

Missouri
000000001822-07-04-0000July 4, 1822 – July 3, 1836
1831 term "Old Glory" coined
168 !14 years

25
13

Arkansas
000000001836-07-04-0000July 4, 1836 – July 3, 1837
012 !1 year

26
13

Michigan
000000001837-07-04-0000July 4, 1837 – July 3, 1845
096 !8 years

27
13

Florida
000000001845-07-04-0000July 4, 1845 – July 3, 1846
012 !1 year

28
13

Texas
000000001846-07-04-0000July 4, 1846 – July 3, 1847
012 !1 year

29
13

Iowa
000000001847-07-04-0000July 4, 1847 – July 3, 1848
012 !1 year

30
13

Wisconsin
000000001848-07-04-0000July 4, 1848 – July 3, 1851
036 !3 years

31
13

California
000000001851-07-04-0000July 4, 1851 – July 3, 1858
084 !7 years

32
13

Minnesota
000000001858-07-04-0000July 4, 1858 – July 3, 1859
012 !1 year

33
13

Oregon
000000001859-07-04-0000July 4, 1859 – July 3, 1861
024 !2 years

34
13

Kansas
000000001861-07-04-0000July 4, 1861 – July 3, 1863
024 !2 years

35
13

West Virginia
000000001863-07-04-0000July 4, 1863 – July 3, 1865
024 !2 years

36
13

Nevada
000000001865-07-04-0000July 4, 1865 – July 3, 1867
024 !2 years

37
13

Nebraska
000000001867-07-04-0000July 4, 1867 – July 3, 1877
120 !10 years

38
13

Colorado
000000001877-07-04-0000July 4, 1877 – July 3, 1890
156 !13 years

43
13

Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington
000000001890-07-04-0000July 4, 1890 – July 3, 1891
012 !1 year

44
13

Wyoming
000000001891-07-04-0000July 4, 1891 – July 3, 1896
060 !5 years

45
13

Utah
000000001896-07-04-0000July 4, 1896 – July 3, 1908
144 !12 years

46
13

Oklahoma
000000001908-07-04-0000July 4, 1908 – July 3, 1912
048 !4 years

48
13

Arizona, New Mexico
000000001912-07-04-0000July 4, 1912 – July 3, 1959
564 !47 years

49
13

Alaska
000000001959-07-04-0000July 4, 1959 – July 3, 1960
012 !1 year

50
13

Hawaii
000000001960-07-04-0000July 4, 1960 – present
590 !57 years

text: Future of the flag

text: In the November 2012 U.S. election, Puerto Rico voted to become a U.S. state. However, the legitimacy of the result of this election was disputed.[50] On June 11, 2017, another referendum was held, this time with the result that 97% of voters in Puerto Rico voted for statehood, but it had a turnout of only 23%.[51][52] Similarly in November 2016, a statehood referendum was held in the District of Columbia where 86% of voters approved the proposal. If a new U.S. state were to be admitted, it would require a new design on the flag to accommodate the additional star.[53]

text: Symbolism

text: The modern meaning of the flag was forged in December 1860, when Major Robert Anderson moved the U.S. garrison from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Author Adam Goodheart argues this was the opening move of the American Civil War, and the flag was used throughout northern states to symbolize U.S. nationalism and rejection of secessionism.

text:
Before that day, the flag had served mostly as a military ensign or a convenient marking of American territory, flown from forts, embassies, and ships, and displayed on special occasions like American Independence day. But in the weeks after Major Anderson's surprising stand, it became something different. Suddenly the Stars and Stripes flew—as it does today, and especially as it did after the September 11 attacks in 2001—from houses, from storefronts, from churches; above the village greens and college quads. For the first time American flags were mass-produced rather than individually stitched and even so, manufacturers could not keep up with demand. As the long winter of 1861 turned into spring, that old flag meant something new. The abstraction of the Union cause was transfigured into a physical thing: strips of cloth that millions of people would fight for, and many thousands die for.
– Adam Goodheart.[54]

text: The flag of the United States is one of the nation's most widely recognized symbols. Within the United States, flags are frequently displayed not only on public buildings but on private residences. The flag is a common motif on decals for car windows, and clothing ornaments such as badges and lapel pins. Throughout the world the flag has been used in public discourse to refer to the United States.[citation needed]

text: The flag has become a powerful symbol of Americanism, and is flown on many occasions, with giant outdoor flags used by retail outlets to draw customers. Desecration of the flag is considered a public outrage, but remains protected as freedom of speech. Scholars have noted the irony that "[t]he flag is so revered because it represents the land of the free, and that freedom includes the ability to use or abuse that flag in protest".[55] In worldwide comparison, Testi noted in 2010 that the United States was not unique in adoring its banner, for the flags of Scandinavian countries are also "beloved, domesticated, commercialized and sacralized objects".[56]

text: Design

text: Creation

text: The man credited with designing the current 50 star American flag was Robert G. Heft. He was 17 years old at the time and created the flag design in 1958 as a high school class project while living with his grandparents in Ohio.[57] He received a B− on the project.[58] According to Heft, his history teacher honored their agreement to change his grade to an A after his design was selected.[59][60]

text: Specifications

text: The basic design of the current flag is specified by 4 U.S.C. § 1; 4 U.S.C. § 2 outlines the addition of new stars to represent new states. The specification gives the following values:

text:
Hoist (height) of the flag: A = 1.0
Fly (width) of the flag: B = 1.9[61]
Hoist (height) of the canton ("union"): C = 0.5385 (A × 7/13, spanning seven stripes)
Fly (width) of the canton: D = 0.76 (B × 2/5, two-fifths of the flag width)
E = F = 0.0538 (C/10, One-tenth of the height of the canton)
G = H = 0.0633 (D/12, One twelfth of the width of the canton)
Diameter of star: K = 0.0616 (L × 4/5, four-fifths of the stripe width, the calculation only gives 0.0616 if L is first rounded to 0.077)
Width of stripe: L = 0.0769 (A/13, One thirteenth of the flag height)

text: These specifications are contained in an executive order which, strictly speaking, governs only flags made for or by the U.S. federal government.[62] In practice, most U.S. national flags available for sale to the public have a different width-to-height ratio; common sizes are 2 × 3 ft. or 4 × 6 ft. (flag ratio 1.5), 2.5 × 4 ft. or 5 × 8 ft. (1.6), or 3 × 5 ft. or 6 × 10 ft. (1.667). Even flags flown over the U.S. Capitol for sale to the public through Representatives or Senators are provided in these sizes.[63] Flags that are made to the prescribed 1.9 ratio are often referred to as "G-spec" (for "government specification") flags.

text: Colors

text: The exact red, white, and blue colors to be used in the flag are specified with reference to the CAUS Standard Color Reference of America, 10th edition. Specifically, the colors are "White", "Old Glory Red", and "Old Glory Blue".[64] The CIE coordinates for the colors of the 9th edition of the Standard Color Card were formally specified in JOSA in 1946.[65] These colors form the standard for cloth, and there is no perfect way to convert them to RGB for display on screen or CMYK for printing. The "relative" coordinates in the following table were found by scaling the luminous reflectance relative to the flag's "white".

text:
Official colors[66]

Name
Absolute
Relative

CIELAB D65
Munsell

CIELAB D50
sRGB
GRACoL 2006

L*
a*
b*
H
V/C
L*
a*
b*
R
G
B
8-bit hex
C
M
Y
K

White

88.7
−0.2
5.4
2.5Y
8.8/0.7

100.0
0.0
0.0
1.000
1.000
1.000
#FFFFFF
.000
.000
.000
.000

Old Glory Red

33.9
51.2
24.7
5.5R
3.3/11.1

39.9
57.3
28.7
.698
.132
.203
#B22234
.196
1.000
.757
.118

Old Glory Blue

23.2
13.1
−26.4
8.2PB
2.3/6.1

26.9
11.5
−30.3
.234
.233
.430
#3C3B6E
.886
.851
.243
.122

text: As with the design, the official colors are only officially required for flags produced for the U.S. federal government, and other colors are often used for mass-market flags, printed reproductions, and other products intended to evoke flag colors. The practice of using more saturated colors than the official cloth is not new. As Taylor, Knoche, and Granville wrote in 1950: "The color of the official wool bunting [of the blue field] is a very dark blue, but printed reproductions of the flag, as well as merchandise supposed to match the flag, present the color as a deep blue much brighter than the official wool."[67]

text: Sometimes, Pantone Matching System (PMS) approximations to the flag colors are used. One set was given on the website of the U.S. embassy in London as early as 1998; the website of the U.S. embassy in Stockholm claimed in 2001 that those had been suggested by Pantone, and that the U.S. Government Printing Office preferred a different set. A third red was suggested by a California Military Department document in 2002.[68] In 2001, the Texas legislature specified that the colors of the Texas flag should be "(1) the same colors used in the United States flag; and (2) defined as numbers 193 (red) and 281 (dark blue) of the Pantone Matching System."[69]

text:
Pantone approximations[70]

Source
PMS

CIELAB D50
sRGB
GRACoL 2006

L*
a*
b*
R
G
B
8-bit hex
C
M
Y
K

Safe

100.0
0.0
0.0
1.000
1.000
1.000
#FFFFFF
.000
.000
.000
.000

U.S. Emb.,
London
193 C

42.1
64.4
26.7
.756
.076
.238
#C1133D
.165
1.000
.678
.063

281 C

15.4
7.0
−41.8
.000
.149
.388
#002663
1.000
.906
.388
.231

U.S. Emb.,
Stockholm
186 C

44.1
67.8
37.9
.800
.048
.185
#CC0C2F
.122
1.000
.796
.035

288 C

18.0
7.6
−50.3
.000
.172
.466
#002C77
1.000
.863
.357
.141

CA Mil. Dept.
200 C

41.1
64.2
30.8
.745
.051
.203
#BE0D34
.169
1.000
.749
.074

text: The 49- and 50-star unions

text: When Alaska and Hawaii were being considered for statehood in the 1950s, more than 1,500 designs were submitted to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Although some of them were 49-star versions, the vast majority were 50-star proposals. At least three of these designs were identical to the present design of the 50-star flag.[71] At the time, credit was given by the executive department to the United States Army Institute of Heraldry for the design.

text: Of these proposals, one created by 17-year-old Robert G. Heft in 1958 as a school project received the most publicity. His mother was a seamstress, but refused to do any of the work for him. He originally received a B– for the project. After discussing the grade with his teacher, it was agreed (somewhat jokingly) that if the flag was accepted by Congress, the grade would be reconsidered. Heft's flag design was chosen and adopted by presidential proclamation after Alaska and before Hawaii was admitted into the Union in 1959.[72] According to Heft, his teacher did keep to their agreement and changed his grade to an A for the project.[60] The 49- and 50-star flags were each flown for the first time at Fort McHenry on Independence Day, in 1959 and 1960 respectively.[60]

text: Decoration

text: Traditionally, the flag may be decorated with golden fringe surrounding the perimeter of the flag as long as it does not deface the flag proper. Ceremonial displays of the flag, such as those in parades or on indoor posts, often use fringe to enhance the appearance of the flag.

text: The first recorded use of fringe on a flag dates from 1835, and the Army used it officially in 1895. No specific law governs the legality of fringe, but a 1925 opinion of the attorney general addresses the use of fringe (and the number of stars) "... is at the discretion of the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy ..." as quoted from footnote in previous volumes of Title 4 of the United States Code law books and is a source for claims that such a flag is a military ensign not civilian. However, according to the Army Institute of Heraldry, which has official custody of the flag designs and makes any change ordered, there are no implications of symbolism in the use of fringe.[73] Several federal courts have upheld this conclusion,[74][75] most recently and forcefully in Colorado v. Drew, a Colorado Court of Appeals judgment that was released in May 2010.[76] Traditionally, the Army and Air Force use a fringed National Color for parade, color guard and indoor display, while the Sea Services (Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard) use a fringeless National Color for all occasions.

text: Display and use

text: The flag is customarily flown year-round at most public buildings, and it is not unusual to find private houses flying full-size (3 by 5 feet (0.91 by 1.52 m)) flags. Some private use is year-round, but becomes widespread on civic holidays like Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Presidents' Day, Flag Day, and on Independence Day. On Memorial Day it is common to place small flags by war memorials and next to the graves of U.S. war veterans. Also on Memorial Day it is common to fly the flag at half staff, until noon, in remembrance of those who lost their lives fighting in U.S. wars.

text: Flag etiquette

text: The United States Flag Code outlines certain guidelines for the use, display, and disposal of the flag. For example, the flag should never be dipped to any person or thing, unless it is the ensign responding to a salute from a ship of a foreign nation. This tradition may come from the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, where countries were asked to dip their flag to King Edward VII: the American flag bearer did not. Team captain Martin Sheridan is famously quoted as saying "this flag dips to no earthly king", though the true provenance of this quotation is unclear.[77][78]

text: The flag should never be allowed to touch the ground and, if flown at night, must be illuminated. If the edges become tattered through wear, the flag should be repaired or replaced. When a flag is so tattered that it can no longer serve as a symbol of the United States, it should be destroyed in a dignified manner, preferably by burning. The American Legion and other organizations regularly conduct flag retirement ceremonies, often on Flag Day, June 14. (The Boy Scouts of America recommends that modern nylon or polyester flags be recycled instead of burned, due to hazardous gases being produced when such materials are burned.)[79]

text: The Flag Code prohibits using the flag "for any advertising purpose" and also states that the flag "should not be embroidered, printed, or otherwise impressed on such articles as cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins, boxes, or anything intended to be discarded after temporary use".[80] Both of these codes are generally ignored, almost always without comment.

text: Section 8, entitled Respect For Flag states in part: "The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery", and "No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform". Section 3 of the Flag Code[81] defines "the flag" as anything "by which the average person seeing the same without deliberation may believe the same to represent the flag of the United States of America".

text: An additional part of Section 8 Respect For Flag, that is frequently violated at sporting events is part (c) "The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free."

text: Although the Flag Code is U.S. federal law, there is no penalty for a private citizen or group failing to comply with the Flag Code and it is not widely enforced—indeed, punitive enforcement would conflict with the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.[82] Passage of the proposed Flag Desecration Amendment would overrule legal precedent that has been established.

text: Display on vehicles

text: When the flag is affixed to the right side of a vehicle of any kind (e.g.: cars, boats, planes, any physical object that moves), it should be oriented so that the canton is towards the front of the vehicle, as if the flag were streaming backwards from its hoist as the vehicle moves forward. Therefore, U.S. flag decals on the right sides of vehicles may appear to be reversed, with the union to the observer's right instead of left as more commonly seen.

text: The flag has been displayed on every U.S. spacecraft designed for manned flight, including Mercury, Gemini, Apollo Command/Service Module, Apollo Lunar Module, and the Space Shuttle. The flag also appeared on the S-IC first stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle used for Apollo. But since Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo were launched and landed vertically and were not capable of horizontal atmospheric flight as the Space Shuttle did on its landing approach, the "streaming" convention was not followed and these flags were oriented with the stripes running horizontally, perpendicular to the direction of flight.

text: Display on uniforms

text: On some U.S. military uniforms, flag patches are worn on the right shoulder, following the vehicle convention with the union toward the front. This rule dates back to the Army's early history, when both mounted cavalry and infantry units would designate a standard bearer, who carried the Colors into battle. As he charged, his forward motion caused the flag to stream back. Since the Stars and Stripes are mounted with the canton closest to the pole, that section stayed to the right, while the stripes flew to the left.[83] Several US military uniforms, such as flight suits worn by members of the United States Air Force and Navy, have the flag patch on the left shoulder.[84][85]

text: Other organizations that wear flag patches on their uniforms can have the flag facing in either direction. The congressional charter of the Boy Scouts of America stipulates that the uniforms should not imitate U.S. military uniforms; consequently, the flags are displayed on the right shoulder with the stripes facing front, the reverse of the military style.[86] Law enforcement officers often wear a small flag patch, either on a shoulder, or above a shirt pocket.

text: Every U.S. astronaut since the crew of Gemini 4 has worn the flag on the left shoulder of his or her space suit, with the exception of the crew of Apollo 1, whose flags were worn on the right shoulder. In this case, the canton was on the left.

text: Postage stamps

text: The flag did not appear on U.S. postal stamp issues until the Battle of White Plains Issue was released in 1926, depicting the flag with a circle of 13 stars. The 48-star flag first appeared on the General Casimir Pulaski issue of 1931, though in a small monochrome depiction. The first U.S. postage stamp to feature the flag as the sole subject was issued July 4, 1957, Scott catalog number 1094.[87] Since that time the flag has frequently appeared on U.S. stamps.

text: Display in museums

text: In 1907 Eben Appleton, New York stockbroker and grandson of Lieutenant Colonel George Armistead (the commander of Fort McHenry during the 1814 bombardment) loaned the Star Spangled Banner Flag to the Smithsonian Institution, and in 1912 he converted the loan to a gift. Appleton donated the flag with the wish that it would always be on view to the public. In 1994, the National Museum of American History determined that the Star Spangled Banner Flag required further conservation treatment to remain on public display. In 1998 teams of museum conservators, curators, and other specialists helped move the flag from its home in the Museum's Flag Hall into a new conservation laboratory. Following the reopening of the National Museum of American History on November 21, 2008, the flag is now on display in a special exhibition, "The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag That Inspired the National Anthem," where it rests at a 10 degree angle in dim light for conservation purposes.[39]

text: Places of continuous display

text: By presidential proclamation, acts of Congress, and custom, U.S. flags are displayed continuously at certain locations.

text:
Replicas of the Star Spangled Banner Flag (15 stars, 15 stripes) are flown at two sites in Baltimore, Maryland: Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine[88] and Flag House Square.[89]
Marine Corps War Memorial (Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima), Arlington, Virginia.[90]
The Battle Green in Lexington, Massachusetts, site of the first shots fired in the Revolution[91]
The White House, Washington, D.C.[92]
Fifty U.S. flags are displayed continuously at the Washington Monument, Washington, D.C.[93]

text:
At U.S. Customs and Border Protection Ports of Entry that are continuously open.[94]
A Civil War era flag (for the year 1863) flies above Pennsylvania Hall (Old Dorm) at Gettysburg College.[95] This building, occupied by both sides at various points of the Battle of Gettysburg, served as a lookout and battlefield hospital.
Grounds of the National Memorial Arch in Valley Forge NHP, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania[96]
By custom, at the Maryland home, birthplace, and grave of Francis Scott Key; at the Worcester, Massachusetts war memorial; at the plaza in Taos, New Mexico (since 1861); at the United States Capitol (since 1918); and at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, South Dakota.
Newark Liberty International Airport's Terminal A, Gate 17 and Boston Logan Airport's Terminal B, Gate 32 and Terminal C, Gate 19 in memoriam of the events of September 11, 2001.[97]
Slover Mountain (Colton Liberty Flag), in Colton, California. July 4, 1917, to circa 1952 & 1997 to 2012.[98][99][100][101]
At the ceremonial South Pole as one of the 12 flags representing the signatory countries of the original Antarctic Treaty.
On the Moon: six manned missions successfully landed at various locations and each had a flag raised at the site. Exhaust gases when the Ascent Stage launched to return the astronauts to their Command Module Columbia for return to Earth blew over the flag the Apollo 11 mission had placed.[102]

text: Particular days for display

text: The flag should especially be displayed at full staff on the following days:[103]

text:
January: 1 (New Year's Day), third Monday of the month (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), and 20 (Inauguration Day, once every four years, which, by tradition, is postponed to the 21st if the 20th falls on a Sunday)
February: 12 (Lincoln's birthday) and the third Monday (legally known as Washington's Birthday but more often called Presidents' Day)
March–April: Easter Sunday (date varies)
May: Second Sunday (Mothers Day), third Saturday (Armed Forces Day), and last Monday (Memorial Day; half-staff until noon)
June: 14 (Flag Day), third Sunday (Fathers Day)
July: 4 (Independence Day) and 27 (National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day)[104]
September: First Monday (Labor Day), 17 (Constitution Day), and last Sunday (Gold Star Mother's Day)[105]
October: Second Monday (Columbus Day) and 27 (Navy Day)
November: 11 (Veterans Day) and fourth Thursday (Thanksgiving Day)
December: 25 (Christmas Day)
and such other days as may be proclaimed by the President of the United States; the birthdays of states (date of admission); and on state holidays.[106]

text: Display at half-staff

text: The flag is displayed at half-staff (half-mast in naval usage) as a sign of respect or mourning. Nationwide, this action is proclaimed by the president; statewide or territory-wide, the proclamation is made by the governor. In addition, there is no prohibition against municipal governments, private businesses or citizens flying the flag at half-staff as a local sign of respect and mourning. However, many flag enthusiasts feel this type of practice has somewhat diminished the meaning of the original intent of lowering the flag to honor those who held high positions in federal or state offices. President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first proclamation on March 1, 1954, standardizing the dates and time periods for flying the flag at half-staff from all federal buildings, grounds, and naval vessels; other congressional resolutions and presidential proclamations ensued. However, they are only guidelines to all other entities: typically followed at state and local government facilities, and encouraged of private businesses and citizens.

text: To properly fly the flag at half-staff, one should first briefly hoist it top of the staff, then lower it to the half-staff position, halfway between the top and bottom of the staff. Similarly, when the flag is to be lowered from half-staff, it should be first briefly hoisted to the top of the staff.[107]

text: Federal statutes provide that the flag should be flown at half-staff on the following dates:

text:
May 15: Peace Officers Memorial Day (unless it is the third Saturday in May, Armed Forces Day, then full-staff)[108]
Last Monday in May: Memorial Day (until noon)
September 11: Patriot Day[109]
First Sunday in October: Start of Fire Prevention Week, in honor of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service.[110][111]
December 7: National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day[112]
For 30 days: Death of a president or former president
For 10 days: Death of a vice president, Supreme Court chief justice/retired chief justice, or speaker of the House of Representatives.
From death until the day of interment: Supreme Court associate justice, member of the Cabinet, former vice president, president pro tempore of the Senate, or the majority and minority leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives. Also for federal facilities within a state or territory, for the governor.
On the day after the death: Senators, members of Congress, territorial delegates or the resident commissioner of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico

text: National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, on July 27, was formerly a day of half-staff observance until the law expired in 2003. In 2009, it became a day of full-staff observance.[104][113][104]

text: Folding for storage

text: Though not part of the official Flag Code, according to military custom, flags should be folded into a triangular shape when not in use. To properly fold the flag:

text:
Begin by holding it waist-high with another person so that its surface is parallel to the ground.
Fold the lower half of the stripe section lengthwise over the field of stars, holding the bottom and top edges securely.
Fold the flag again lengthwise with the blue field on the outside.
Make a rectangular fold then a triangular fold by bringing the striped corner of the folded edge to meet the open top edge of the flag, starting the fold from the left side over to the right.
Turn the outer end point inward, parallel to the open edge, to form a second triangle.
The triangular folding is continued until the entire length of the flag is folded in this manner (usually thirteen triangular folds, as shown at right). On the final fold, any remnant that does not neatly fold into a triangle (or in the case of exactly even folds, the last triangle) is tucked into the previous fold.
When the flag is completely folded, only a triangular blue field of stars should be visible.

text: There is also no specific meaning for each fold of the flag. However, there are scripts read by non-government organizations and also by the Air Force that are used during the flag folding ceremony. These scripts range from historical timelines of the flag to religious themes.[114][115]

text: Use in funerals

text: Traditionally, the flag of the United States plays a role in military funerals,[116] and occasionally in funerals of other civil servants (such as law enforcement officers, fire fighters, and U.S. presidents). A burial flag is draped over the deceased's casket as a pall during services. Just prior to the casket being lowered into the ground, the flag is ceremonially folded and presented to the deceased's next of kin as a token of respect.[117]

text: Related flags

text: This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (October 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text:
The flag of Bikini Atoll is symbolic of the islanders' belief that a great debt is still owed to the people of Bikini because in 1954 the United States government detonated a thermonuclear bomb on the island as part of the Castle Bravo test.[118]
The flag of Liberia bears a close resemblance, showing the ex-American-slave origin of the country.[119] The Liberian flag has 11 similar red and white stripes, which stand for the 11 signers of the Liberian Declaration of Independence, as well as a blue square with only a single large white star for the canton. The flag of Liberia is the only flag in the world that was modeled after and resembles the American flag because Liberia was the only nation in the world that was founded, colonized, established, and controlled by freed African American and ex-caribbean slaves as settlers who came from the United States and the Caribbean islands as a homeland to live, with the help and support from the American Colonization Society on January 7, 1822.
Despite Malaysia having no historical connections with the U.S., the flag of Malaysia greatly resembles the U.S. flag. It is possible that the flag of the British East India Company influenced both the Malaysian and U.S. flag.[7]
The flag of El Salvador from 1865 to 1912. A different flag was in use, based on the flag of the United States, with a field of alternating blue and white stripes and a red canton containing white stars.[citation needed]
The flag of Brittany was inspired in part by the American flag.[citation needed]

text: Gallery of related flags

text:
Flag of Bikini Atoll

Flag of Liberia

Flag of Malaysia

Flag of El Salvador 1875–1912

Flag of Brittany


document_title: Far from the Madding Crowd

question_text: who does bathsheba choose in far from the madding crowd

root

text: Far from the Madding Crowd

text: Plot[edit]

text: Gabriel Oak is a young shepherd. With the savings of a frugal life, and a loan, he has leased and stocked a sheep farm. He falls in love with a newcomer six years his junior, Bathsheba Everdene, a proud beauty who arrives to live with her aunt, Mrs. Hurst. Over time, Bathsheba and Gabriel grow to like each other well enough, and Bathsheba even saves his life once. However, when he makes her an unadorned offer of marriage, she refuses; she values her independence too much, and him too little. Feeling betrayed and embarrassed, Gabriel offers blunt protestations that only foster her haughtiness. After a few days, she moves to Weatherbury, a village some miles off.

tag: p

text: When next they meet, their circumstances have changed drastically. An inexperienced new sheepdog drives Gabriel's flock over a cliff, ruining him. After selling off everything of value, he manages to settle all his debts but emerges penniless. He seeks employment at a hiring fair in the town of Casterbridge. When he finds none, he heads to another such fair in Shottsford, a town about ten miles from Weatherbury. On the way, he happens upon a dangerous fire on a farm and leads the bystanders in putting it out. When the veiled owner comes to thank him, he asks if she needs a shepherd. She uncovers her face and reveals herself to be none other than Bathsheba. She has recently inherited her uncle's estate and is now wealthy. Though somewhat uncomfortable, she employs him.

text: Bathsheba's valentine to Boldwood[edit]

text: Meanwhile, Bathsheba has a new admirer: the lonely and repressed William Boldwood. Boldwood is a prosperous farmer of about forty, whose ardour Bathsheba unwittingly awakens when – her curiosity piqued because he has never bestowed on her the customary admiring glance – she playfully sends him a valentine sealed with red wax on which she has embossed the words, "Marry me". Boldwood, not realising the valentine was a jest, becomes obsessed with Bathsheba and soon proposes marriage. Although she does not love him, she toys with the idea of accepting his offer; he is, after all, the most eligible bachelor in the district. However, she postpones giving him a definite answer. When Gabriel rebukes her for her thoughtlessness regarding Boldwood, she dismisses him.

text: When Bathsheba's sheep begin dying from bloat, she discovers to her chagrin that Gabriel is the only man who knows how to cure them. Her pride delays the inevitable, but finally she is forced to beg him for help. Afterwards, she offers him back his job and their friendship is restored.

text: Sergeant Troy returns[edit]

text: At this point, the dashing Sergeant Francis "Frank" Troy returns to his native Weatherbury and by chance encounters Bathsheba one night. Her initial dislike turns to infatuation after he excites her with a private display of swordsmanship. Gabriel observes Bathsheba's interest in the young soldier and tries to discourage it, telling her she would be better off marrying Boldwood. Boldwood becomes aggressive towards Troy, and Bathsheba goes to Bath to prevent Troy returning to Weatherbury, as she fears Troy may be harmed on meeting Boldwood. On their return, Boldwood offers his rival a large bribe to give up Bathsheba. Troy pretends to consider the offer, then scornfully announces they are already married. Boldwood withdraws, humiliated, and vows revenge.

text: Bathsheba soon discovers that her new husband is an improvident gambler with little interest in farming. Worse, she begins to suspect he does not love her. In fact, Troy's heart belongs to her former servant, Fanny Robin. Before meeting Bathsheba, Troy had promised to marry Fanny; on the wedding day, however, the luckless girl went to the wrong church. She explained her mistake, but Troy, humiliated at being left at the altar, angrily called off the wedding. When they parted, unbeknownst to Troy, Fanny was pregnant with his child.

text: Fanny Robin[edit]

text: Some months later, Troy and Bathsheba encounter Fanny on the road, destitute, as she painfully makes her way toward the Casterbridge workhouse. Troy sends his wife onward with the horse and gig before she can recognise the girl, then gives Fanny all the money in his pocket, telling her he will give her more in a few days. Fanny uses up the last of her strength to reach her destination. A few hours later, she dies in childbirth, along with the baby. Mother and child are then placed in a coffin and sent home to Weatherbury for interment. Gabriel, who has long known of Troy's relationship with Fanny, tries to conceal the child's existence – but Bathsheba agrees that the coffin can be left in her house overnight, from her sense of duty towards a former servant of the household.[2] Her new servant, Liddy, repeats the rumour that Fanny had a child; when all the servants are in bed, Bathsheba unscrews the lid and sees the two bodies inside.

text: Troy then comes home from Casterbridge, where he had gone to keep his appointment with Fanny. Seeing the reason for her failure to meet him, he gently kisses the corpse and tells the anguished Bathsheba, "This woman is more to me, dead as she is, than ever you were, or are, or can be". The next day he spends all his money on a marble tombstone with the inscription: "Erected by Francis Troy in beloved memory of Fanny Robin ..." Then, loathing himself and unable to bear Bathsheba's company, he leaves. After a long walk he bathes in the sea, leaving his clothes on the beach. A strong current carries him away, but he is rescued by a rowing boat.

text: Climax[edit]

text: A year later, with Troy presumed drowned, Boldwood renews his suit. Burdened with guilt over the pain she has caused him, Bathsheba reluctantly consents to marry him in six years, long enough to have Troy declared dead.

text: Troy, however, is not dead. When he learns that Boldwood is again courting Bathsheba, he returns to Weatherbury on Christmas Eve to claim his wife. He goes to Boldwood's house, where a party is under way, and orders Bathsheba to come with him; when she shrinks back in surprise, he seizes her arm, and she screams. At this, Boldwood shoots Troy dead and tries unsuccessfully to turn the gun on himself. Although Boldwood is condemned to hang for murder, his friends petition the Home Secretary for mercy, citing insanity. This is granted, and Boldwood's sentence is changed to "confinement during Her Majesty's pleasure". Bathsheba, profoundly chastened by guilt and grief, buries her husband in the same grave as Fanny and the child, and adds a suitable inscription.

text: Ending[edit]

text: Throughout her tribulations, Bathsheba comes to rely increasingly on her oldest and, as she admits to herself, only real friend, Gabriel. When he gives notice that he is leaving her employ, she realises how important he has become to her well-being. That night, she goes alone to visit him in his cottage, to find out why he is deserting her. Pressed, he reluctantly reveals that it is because people have been injuring her good name by gossiping that he wants to marry her. She exclaims that it is "... too absurd – too soon – to think of, by far!" He bitterly agrees that it is absurd, but when she corrects him, saying that it is only "too soon", he is emboldened to ask once again for her hand in marriage. She accepts, and the two are quietly wed.

text: Title[edit]

text: Hardy took the title from Thomas Gray's poem Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (1751).

text:
Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.

text: "Madding" here means "frenzied".[3]

text: Lucasta Miller points out that the title is an ironic literary joke as Gray is idealising the noiselessness and sequestered calm whereas Hardy "disrupts the idyll, and not just by introducing the sound and fury of an extreme plot ... he is out to subvert his readers' complacency".[4]

text: Hardy's Wessex[edit]

text: Far from the Madding Crowd offers in ample measure the details of English rural life that Hardy so relished.[5]

text: Hardy first employed the term "Wessex" in Far from the Madding Crowd to describe the "partly real, partly dream-country" that unifies his novels of South West England. He found the word in the pages of early English history as a designation for an extinct, pre-Norman conquest kingdom, the Wessex from which Alfred the Great established England.[6] In the first edition, the word "Wessex" is used only once, in chapter 50; Hardy extended the reference for the 1895 edition.[7] The village of Puddletown, near Dorchester, is the inspiration for the novel's Weatherbury. Dorchester, in turn, inspired Hardy's Casterbridge.[8]

text: In The Mayor of Casterbridge, Hardy briefly mentions two characters from Far from the Madding Crowd – Farmer Everdene and Farmer Boldwood, both in happier days.

text: Honours[edit]

text: In 2003, the novel was listed at number 48 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.[9] In 2007, the book finished 10th on the Guardian's list of greatest love stories of all time.[10]

text: Adaptations[edit]

text: Radio[edit]

text: The novel was adapted by Graham White in 2012 into a three-part series on BBC Radio 4's Classic Serial. The production was directed by Jessica Dromgoole and featured Alex Tregear as Bathsheba, Shaun Dooley as Gabriel, Toby Jones as Boldwood and Patrick Kennedy as Troy.

text: Comics[edit]

text: Tamara Drewe is a comic strip serial based upon a modern reworking of the novel by Posy Simmonds. It was itself adapted into a film, Tamara Drewe (2010), directed by Stephen Frears.

text: Film[edit]

text:
Far from the Madding Crowd (1915) directed by Laurence Trimble, starring Florence Turner and Henry Edwards.
Far from the Madding Crowd (1967) directed by John Schlesinger, starring Julie Christie as Bathsheba Everdene, Terence Stamp as Sergeant Troy, Peter Finch as Mr Boldwood, and Alan Bates as Farmer Oak.
Far from the Madding Crowd (1998) directed by Nicholas Renton, starring Paloma Baeza, Nathaniel Parker, Jonathan Firth and Nigel Terry.
Far from the Madding Crowd (2015) directed by Thomas Vinterberg, screenplay by David Nicholls, with Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba Everdene, Matthias Schoenaerts as Farmer Oak, Michael Sheen as Mr Boldwood, Tom Sturridge as Sergeant Troy and Juno Temple as Fanny Robin.[11][12]

tag: ul

text: Stage productions[edit]

text: Dance[edit]

text: Far from the Madding Crowd (1996) is a ballet by David Bintley for the Birmingham Royal Ballet[citation needed]

text: Musical[edit]

text: Far from the Madding Crowd (2000), a musical with music by Gary Schocker, based on the novel

text: Opera[edit]

text: Far from the Madding Crowd (2006) is an opera by Andrew Downes

text: Plays[edit]

text:
Hardy wrote an 1882 stage adaptation with J. Comyns Carr, which starred Marion Terry
In autumn 2008, English Touring Theatre (ETT) toured Britain with a new stage adaptation of Far from the Madding Crowd directed by Kate Saxon[13]
In March 2013 Myriad Theatre & Film toured South-East England with their original stage adaptation of Far from the Madding Crowd for five actors. The show also incorporated some of Hardy's poetry.

text: Other[edit]

text: In October 2016, the first episode of a web series transmedia modernisation of the novel, Away from it All, was released.[14] Based around the antics and video blogs of a group of twenty-somethings working at a village pub, the series was created by Hazel Jeffs.

text: References in popular culture[edit]

text: Anime[edit]

text: Episode 20 of the anime Kill la Kill, is titled "Far from the Madding Crowd".

text: Music[edit]

text:
British musician Nick Bracegirdle, better known as Chicane, released Far from the Maddening Crowds, a studio album, in 1997.
In 2000, the New York rock band Nine Days titled their debut The Madding Crowd to express their allegiance to modernity in opposition to Hardy.[15]
The Danish metal band Wuthering Heights released a studio album, Far From the Madding Crowd in 2004.
Nanci Griffith included the lyric "You're a Saturday night, Far from the madding crowd" in the song On Grafton Street on her 1994 release Flyer.


document_title: Alex Karev

question_text: who gets on the board karev or bailey

question_tokens: who gets on the board karev or bailey

text: Alex Karev

text: Storylines[edit]

text: His mother had a mental illness, and his father was often absent, as well as often becoming violent towards Alex and his mother. Alex began wrestling in high school,[5] and eventually physically confronted his father - after this, his father did not return. Alex has a younger brother, Aaron, and a younger sister, Amber; they were all placed in foster care for 5 years. Though Aaron and Amber only had a few foster families, Alex went through 17 foster families in 5 years before he reunited with his siblings. It is revealed in later seasons that Aaron was diagnosed with schizophrenia and tried to kill Amber. Alex was present when Aaron had to be committed to a psychiatric ward.

text: Alex secured a position in the surgical residency program at Seattle Grace Hospital after graduating from the University of Iowa. He initially makes a poor impression on his fellow interns meeting fellow interns Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), George O'Malley (T.R. Knight), and Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) whom he later taunts when he discovers she used to be a lingerie model. After initial disagreements, Alex reveals to Izzie that his father was a heroin addict who used to beat his mother. He became a wrestler so he could defend his mother, and attended university on a wrestling scholarship. He and Izzie begin a friendship. At the end of the first season, George contracts syphilis from Alex through nurse Olivia Harper, causing animosity between the two.

text: Alex asks Izzie out on a date, but he is thrown by the news that he has failed his medical board exams. Izzie is offended since he pays no attention to her during their date and so informs him that she no longer wants to go out with him. He later freezes during an emergency operation, needing George to take over from him. Alex's relationship with Izzie is damaged when he experiences erectile dysfunction with her. He goes on to sleep with Olivia again, and is caught by Izzie and they break up. After retaking his exams, Alex manages a pass, and reunites with Izzie after a bomb scare in the hospital. They break up again, however, when Izzie falls for cardiothoracic patient Denny Duquette.

text: Alex helps Izzie recover from Denny's death and advances Izzie but Izzie backs away since she is still in the process of getting over her loss and they remain friends. Alex spends a period of time working under neonatal surgeon Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh), and though he is later released to work for plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), he finds his interest returning to Addison's firm. Addison is attracted to Alex, and the two share a kiss and later sleep together. In the aftermath of a ferry accident, Alex rescues a pregnant woman (Elizabeth Reaser) who awakes with amnesia, and grows close to Alex as he helps her forging an identity for herself, picking out the name Ava. After she gives birth to her daughter, Ava's memory eventually returns, although she tries to hide it from Alex as she had recently left a bad marriage. He convinces her to tell him her true identity, and she reveals herself to be Rebecca Pope. Alex turns her down after realizing she's married, feeling that he is not good enough for her.

text: Rebecca returns and she and Alex sleep together before she goes back to her husband. Alex has a brief relationship with intern Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh), but chooses to be with Rebecca when she returns and tells him she is pregnant. After Rebecca attempted suicide, Izzie convinces Alex to admit her for psychiatric help due to Rebecca's hallucinations of her pregnancy. Alex later breaks down in Izzie's arms, and the two kiss.

text: Later in their relationship, Izzie begins hallucinating about Denny, and uncovers the fact she has metastatic melanoma (Stage IV) with an estimated chance of 5% survival. It is revealed that Izzie's hallucinations of Denny are, in fact, caused by her tumor. Alex is shocked by the news, but finds the strength to stay by her side. Izzie plans a wedding for Meredith and Derek, but when Derek finds Izzie has another inoperable tumor in her brain, they give the wedding to Izzie and Alex, who marry in front of all their friends. Izzie debates whether or not she should undergo a risky surgery to remove her tumor and Alex supports her, but eventually insists that she should have the surgery. Alex performs CPR on Izzie after she flatlines.

text: Izzie regains a heartbeat but is soon fired leaving Alex a Dear John letter and no clue as to her whereabouts. She later returns to the hospital and says to Alex, thinking he had a hand in getting her fired, that she could not forgive him for talking to the Chief. Alex says he could not forgive her either for not giving him the benefit of the doubt and leaving without talking to him first. Alex re-kindles an old flame with Lexie. Alex seems to have recently found that his calling is actually Peds and not Plastics as he had decided in the earlier seasons. Seeing Alex's ability to handle child patients, Dr. Arizona Robbins shows an interest in mentoring him for that specialization. Alex's brother Aaron comes to Seattle Grace for surgery, and lots of painful memories resurface because of this. Meredith discovers Alex, along with Aaron and their sister Amber, had been in foster care for five years when their mother could not take care of them. Alex is also served with divorce papers from Izzie. Alex is shot in the hospital by a deceased patient's husband, but survives with the help of Lexie and Mark. While undergoing treatment, he mistakes Lexie for Izzie.

text: Following the shooting, Lexie has a mental breakdown in front of Alex and he walks away. Dr. Bailey bars Alex from surgery until he has the bullet removed, which he later allows her to do. Alex realizes that his passion lies in Pediatric Surgery. He is further shown to be excellent with children, comforting with a young patient while growing her a new trachea. He immediately gets on the wrong side of new Pediatric attending Stark while Arizona is on leave. Alex then attempts to sleep with virgin April Kepner after visiting his mom in Iowa when his brother was diagnosed schizophrenia. Alex and Meredith perform an emergent surgery on a young boy by themselves during the night shift, dealing with the angry fallout from Stark (who would not answer his pager) but gaining the wordless approval of the Chief. Alex is thrilled when Arizona returns from Africa and hopes she will come to work for the hospital again. In the meantime, Alex falls for the new OBGYN attending, Lucy Fields, and they start a relationship after she kisses him. Alex finds out about Meredith sabotaging her Alzheimer's clinical trial and rats her out in attempt to get Chief Resident.

text: The adoption counselor takes away Zola, the child Meredith wanted to adopt. Realizing his mistake, Alex apologizes to Meredith who forgives him shortly after. As the end of the fifth year of residency is near, the surgical residents, including Alex, prepare for their board exams for the different fellowships they plan on joining. Though Alex is late for his exam because he had to treat a patient, he ends up passing. Dr. Webber tells him that Johns Hopkins Hospital, which has the top program in the country, has been very impressed with him and has decided to create a position in pediatrics surgery for him and accepts the position. After finding out his decision, his current boss, Dr. Arizona Robbins, yells at him and takes his place on a plane that later crashes.

text: Following the rescue of his colleagues, Robbins' health deteriorates and amputates her leg. He extends his stay at Seattle Grace until a replacement for Robbins is found, but when he learns that the replacement will send the exchange program to UCLA, he decides not to leave. Karev buys Meredith's old house from her, and Cristina becomes his roommate. Karev forms a friendship with new intern, Jo Wilson that eventually develops into romantic feelings towards each other. Alex admits his love for Jo, and the two kiss and become a couple.

text: Alex's estranged father, Jimmy, who he hasn't seen in 18 years, is admitted to the ER as a patient. After being discharged, Jimmy plays with his band at a bar, and Alex spends several nights watching his father perform onstage. Unknowing that Alex is his son, Jimmy confides in Alex that he had another family that he hasn't seen in years. This made Alex upset and he punched Jimmy at the bar. Once returning home, Alex unleashes his hurt and anger on Jo for having encouraged him to reconnect with his father. His father returns suffering from symptoms of withdrawal and hallucinations of the past where more is revealed about Alex's childhood. Jimmy tells Alex he knows that he is his son and Alex yells at his dad stating that "I WAS THE DAD". His dad later goes into cardiac arrest and is brought into surgery, fate unknown. Alex kisses Jo at April's wedding wanting to start a family with her. That night his dad died, due to a mistake by intern, Shane Ross, and Alex is upset. He punches Ross and is later comforted by Meredith.

text: Upon the completion of his fellowship in Pediatric Surgery, Alex is given an offer to work at Dr. Oliver Lebackes' private practice office, claiming that he will have more flexible hours and "a big fat paycheck". Alex takes this offer happily. Robbins is initially angered by this decision and thinks that Alex is choosing money over substance. Eventually she realizes that he has become a wonderful surgeon and that she is happy to see him go. He later discovers that he isn't happy working at the private practice and expresses a desire to return full-time to Grey Sloan. When Cristina leaves for Switzerland, she leaves Alex her share of the board, including her seat.

text: Alex is fired by Dr. Lebackes when Maggie Pierce accidentally reveals to him that Karev was thinking about leaving the job. Webber recommended Bailey to fill Yang's board seat after she left, so Bailey and Alex fight over the chair. They both make presentations to the board and eventually Bailey wins, with a unanimous vote in her favor. He is hired back as an attending Peds surgeon and takes over full-time as Arizona pursues a fellowship with Dr. Herman. Alex continues to date Jo and his friendship with Meredith grows stronger than ever, with him taking on the role of her new person. When Derek dies and Meredith runs away, Alex is upset by her leaving without telling him where she went and calls her everyday. Eventually she calls him, tells him she is okay, and to stop calling. When she goes into labor and gives birth to Ellis Shepherd, Alex goes to see her since he is her emergency contact. He brings Meredith and her kids back to her house. She asks to move back in with him in her old house. Alex sells Meredith back the house and he and Jo rent a loft.

text: Alex and Jo continue to struggle with their relationship. Alex wants to settle down, marry Jo, and have kids. However, Jo continues to resist. When Karev proposes to her, Jo tells him she can't marry him, so he breaks up with her. Later, Alex realizes that he misses Jo and gets her back. They seem to be doing well for some time, until Alex brings up marriage again and the two fight, as Jo still continues to argue that she cannot marry him. Alex storms out, leaving their relationship uncertain. During Owen and Amelia's wedding, Alex realizes that even though she won't marry him, he loves Jo and goes back to her again. However, when he arrives at their loft, he finds Jo highly intoxicated, wearing nothing but her bra and underwear, and surgical intern, Andrew Deluca lying on top of her. Alex assumes that Deluca was attempting to take advantage of Jo while she was inebriated and is filled with rage. He beats Deluca to a pulp with his bare hands.

text: Andrew is badly injured, with his face bruised beyond recognition. He is unconscious and on the verge of dying. Alex realizes what he's done and quickly rushes Deluca to the hospital. There, the doctors call the police as they struggle to save Andrew and discover who did this to him. Alex lies to everyone and says that he found Andrew in this state and brought him to Grey Sloan. However, Ben Warren is suspicious of Karev. Meredith also quickly realizes that Alex was in fact the one who beat Deluca. She covers for him and the two continue to lie to everyone in the hospital about Alex's actions. Soon, Karev learns that Andrew wasn't doing anything wrong and that he had beaten up a good guy. Meredith decides that even though she loves Alex, she needs to turn him in. She goes to Bailey and tells her the truth. But, when the two rush to the police they find Alex being arrested for aggravated assault, as he had turned himself in. He is taken to jail and Meredith bails him out. While they wait for a trial, Bailey suspends Alex as an attending and makes him work in the clinic. Eventually, Jo finally tells Alex that the reason she couldn't marry Alex is because she is already married. Her husband is abusive and so she ran away and changed her name to Jo Wilson so that he wouldn't find her. Alex realizes that when Jo is called to the stand as a witness in the trial, this information about her past and lack of records under the name Jo Wilson may be revealed, and when the information goes public, her husband may find her. To keep her safe, he decides to take the plea deal without a trial, ensuring that he goes to jail for 2 years. However, when Alex tells Meredith this, she begs him not to and tells him that she can't lose him too because she's already lost everyone else important in her life. Alex struggles to decide whether or not to take the plea deal.

text: Meredith searches for Alex's case online, to find that the trial had been put off indefinitely. She assumes that he took the plea, and began calling and visiting various local jails to find him. After a full day of searching without finding him, she goes home to sleep, and discovers him sleeping in her bed. He explains he slept there all day. He explains that during his meeting with the D.A. Deluca came in and dropped all charges. Alex was then free to continue being Alex.

text: After returning to work, Alex and Jo try to ignore each other and eventually build up a tolerance of sorts towards each other. Deluca and Alex continue to be at odds, especially when he becomes closer to Jo. However, nothing comes of it and they both keep their distance. At the end of the season, Alex hires an investigator to look for Jo's abusive husband. The investigator finds him and tells Alex that he will be at a conference. Meredith tells him it's a horrible idea and that he shouldn't go, especially considering Jo doesn't know about the situation. Alex flies out to the conference with the intention of telling him to get out of her life, no matter the means. When he meets him, Alex decides against confronting him over Jo, avoiding exposing her current identity and location and potentially stopping himself from assaulting someone yet again. He returns to Seattle, leaving the convention early.

text: At the start of season 14, Alex and Jo start to warm to each other. Jo tells Deluca that she is still in love with Alex. Because Stephanie has left the hospital after an explosion that almost killed her, Jo turns to Warren to confide in. After she tells him her true feelings about whole situation with Alex, Warren tells him that Jo is scared that he might hurt her. Alex goes to Jo and tells her that he could never abuse her like her husband did because he dealt with the same trauma as a kid as his father was abusive. He then tells her that he found her husband. Jo is taken back by this but when Alex tells her that he didn't kill or injure him in anyway, she is relieved and finally trusts him again. They then restart their relationship and Jo is now encouraged to file for divorce against her abusive husband.

text: Development[edit]

text: Casting and creation[edit]

text: This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2012)

tag: table

text: Characterization[edit]

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2012)

text: The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) characterized Karev as "honest", "always tells it like it is", while also citing his mouth, his punctuality and him being a "smart-ass" as his weaknesses.[6] Shonda Rhimes said of Karev: "I love that we have a character who can do something wonderful but still be a selfish cranky ass about it. Alex gets to be complex in ways most characters don't because even though he’s got a moral code, his moral code is totally twisted and dark. But he's essentially good – deep down inside."[7] Carolina Paiz, one of the writers of the series, wrote: "He has so much going on inside... you think you've got him figured out but then he just reveals this whole other side to him."[8]

text: "He is superficial sleazeball who turns out to be a nice guy and a talented doctor with an amazing bedside manner, as well as the budding love interest of Katherine Heigl's character Isobel."[9] DVD Verdict wrote of the character's development in the fourth season: "Love him, hate him, or both, Karev speaks his mind, rough edges and all. But ultimately his cold heart seems to be softened by his blossoming relationship with Jane Doe/Ava/Rebecca."[10] Rhimes felt that the 100th episode during which Karev marries Stevens showed how he had grown up: "Look at him. Standing at the altar and saying those vows like a man. (...) He's become a man who can step up. And I love him for it."[11]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Analyzing Alex Karev, Rachel Simon called him "underrated;" she pointed out that Alex’s personal growth never seems to get acknowledged, as "Alex begins Grey’s as an arrogant, obnoxious intern who pushes away anyone who tries to care about him. He breaks Izzie’s heart 1,000 times, and then acts surprised when she falls for someone else. He sleeps with any girl who will have him, insults everyone who doesn’t, and generally enjoys being the hospital asshole. Yet, over the course of 10 seasons Alex has evolved, slowly and realistically, into a genuinely good person whose faults don’t miraculously disappear, but take a backseat to much better qualities."

text: Former television columnist for The Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall disapproved of Karev's flirt with Addison as "he should take interest in a woman's speciality and respect his boss without getting in her pants."[12] Reviewing the fifth season, Chris Monfette of IGN wrote: "Alex, who'd become simply the cast's angry outcast, was uplifted as his relationship with Izzie became more and more substantial, and his bedside scenes with her toward the end were some of his character's best material yet."[13]

text: On his career path as a Pediatric Surgeon Examiner wrote, "Despite his rough exterior, Alex has a certain child-like innocence and need for acceptance. He is keen in recognizing these traits in kids, as well. He reaches out to kids on many levels." and added, "Alex has major trust issues. Maybe it was the constant beatings from his father. Or, his mother’s mental illness. Or, being shuffled through 17 foster homes over a 5 year period. Who wouldn’t have issues with a childhood like that?"


document_title: ABO blood group system

question_text: who proposed every person has specific blood group

text: ABO blood group system

text: History of discoveries of the blood types[edit]

text: The ABO blood group system is widely credited to have been discovered by the Austrian scientist Karl Landsteiner, who identified the O, A, and B blood types in 1900.[5][6] Landsteiner originally described the O blood type as type "C", and in parts of Europe it is rendered as "0" (zero), signifying the lack of A or B antigen. Landsteiner was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1930 for his work.[5] Alfred von Decastello and Adriano Sturli discovered the fourth type, AB, in 1902.[7][8]

text: It was subsequently found that the Czech serologist Jan Janský had independently pioneered the classification of human blood into four groups in 1907,[9] but Landsteiner's independent discovery had been accepted by the scientific world while Janský remained then in relative obscurity. However, in 1921 an American medical commission acknowledged Janský's classification. Jan Janský is nowadays credited with the first classification of blood into the four types (I, II, III, IV).

text: Janský's classification remains in use today. In Russia and states of the former USSR, blood types O, A, B, and AB are respectively designated I, II, III, and IV.[10] The designation A and B with reference to blood groups was proposed by Ludwik Hirszfeld.

text: In America, W.L. Moss published his own (very similar) work in 1910.[11]

text: Ludwik Hirszfeld and E. von Dungern discovered the heritability of ABO blood groups in 1910–11. Felix Bernstein demonstrated the correct blood group inheritance pattern of multiple alleles at one locus in 1924.[12] Watkins and Morgan, in England, discovered that the ABO epitopes were conferred by sugars, to be specific, N-acetylgalactosamine for the A-type and galactose for the B-type.[13][14][15] After much published literature claiming that the ABH substances were all attached to glycosphingolipids, Finne et al. (1978) found that the human erythrocyte glycoproteins contain polylactosamine chains[16] that contains ABH substances attached and represent the majority of the antigens.[17][18][19] The main glycoproteins carrying the ABH antigens were identified to be the Band 3 and Band 4.5 proteins and glycophorin.[20] Later, Yamamoto's group showed the precise glycosyl transferase set that confers the A, B and O epitopes.[21]

text: Alteration of ABO antigens for transfusion[edit]

text: In April 2007, an international team of researchers announced in the journal Nature Biotechnology an inexpensive and efficient way to convert types A, B, and AB blood into type O.[23] This is done by using glycosidase enzymes from specific bacteria to strip the blood group antigens from red blood cells. The removal of A and B antigens still does not address the problem of the Rh blood group antigen on the blood cells of Rh positive individuals, and so blood from Rh negative donors must be used. Patient trials will be conducted before the method can be relied on in live situations.

text: Another approach to the blood antigen problem is the manufacture of artificial blood, which could act as a substitute in emergencies.[24]

text: Genetics[edit]

text: Blood groups are inherited from both parents. The ABO blood type is controlled by a single gene (the ABO gene) with three types of alleles inferred from classical genetics: i, IA, and IB. The I designation stands for isoagglutinogen, another term for antigen.[25] The gene encodes a glycosyltransferase—that is, an enzyme that modifies the carbohydrate content of the red blood cell antigens. The gene is located on the long arm of the ninth chromosome (9q34).

text: The IA allele gives type A, IB gives type B, and i gives type O. As both IA and IB are dominant over i, only ii people have type O blood. Individuals with IAIA or IAi have type A blood, and individuals with IBIB or IBi have type B. IAIB people have both phenotypes, because A and B express a special dominance relationship: codominance, which means that type A and B parents can have an AB child. A couple with type A and type B can also have a type O child if they are both heterozygous (IBi,IAi) The cis-AB phenotype has a single enzyme that creates both A and B antigens. The resulting red blood cells do not usually express A or B antigen at the same level that would be expected on common group A1 or B red blood cells, which can help solve the problem of an apparently genetically impossible blood group.[26]

text:
Blood group inheritance

Blood type

O
A
B
AB

Genotype
ii (OO)
IAi (AO)
IAIA (AA)
IBi (BO)
IBIB (BB)
IAIB (AB)

O
ii (OO)
O
OO OO OO OO
O or A
AO OO AO OO
A
AO AO AO AO
O or B
BO OO BO OO
B
BO BO BO BO
A or B
AO BO AO BO

A
IAi (AO)
O or A
AO AO OO OO
O or A
AA AO AO OO
A
AA AA AO AO
O, A, B or AB
AB AO BO OO
B or AB
AB AB BO BO
A, B or AB
AA AB AO BO

IAIA (AA)
A
AO AO AO AO
A
AA AO AA AO
A
AA AA AA AA
A or AB
AB AO AB AO
AB
AB AB AB AB
A or AB
AA AB AA AB

B
IBi (BO)
O or B
BO BO OO OO
O, A, B or AB
AB BO AO OO
A or AB
AB AB AO AO
O or B
BB BO BO OO
B
BB BB BO BO
A, B or AB
AB BB AO BO

IBIB (BB)
B
BO BO BO BO
B or AB
AB BO AB BO
AB
AB AB AB AB
B
BB BO BB BO
B
BB BB BB BB
B or AB
AB BB AB BB

AB
IAIB (AB)
A or B
AO AO BO BO
A, B or AB
AA AO AB BO
A or AB
AA AA AB AB
A, B or AB
AB AO BB BO
B or AB
AB AB BB BB
A, B, or AB
AA AB AB BB

text: The table above summarizes the various blood groups that children may inherit from their parents.[27][28] Genotypes are shown in the second column and in small print for the offspring: AO and AA both test as type A; BO and BB test as type B. The four possibilities represent the combinations obtained when one allele is taken from each parent; each has a 25% chance, but some occur more than once.

text:
Blood group inheritance by phenotype only

Blood type
O
A
B
AB

O
O
O or A
O or B
A or B

A
O or A
O or A
O, A, B or AB
A, B or AB

B
O or B
O, A, B or AB
O or B
A, B or AB

AB
A or B
A, B or AB
A, B or AB
A, B or AB

text: Historically, ABO blood tests were used in paternity testing, but in 1957 only 50% of American men falsely accused were able to use them as evidence against paternity.[29] Occasionally, the blood types of children are not consistent with expectations—for example, a type O child can be born to an AB parent—due to rare situations, such as Bombay phenotype and cis AB.[30]

text: Subgroups[edit]

text: The A blood type contains about 20 subgroups, of which A1 and A2 are the most common (over 99%). A1 makes up about 80% of all A-type blood, with A2 making up almost all of the rest.[31] These two subgroups are not always interchangeable as far as transfusion is concerned, as some A2 individuals produce antibodies against the A1 antigen. Complications can sometimes arise in rare cases when typing the blood.[31]

text: With the development of DNA sequencing, it has been possible to identify a much larger number of alleles at the ABO locus, each of which can be categorized as A, B, or O in terms of the reaction to transfusion, but which can be distinguished by variations in the DNA sequence. There are six common alleles in white individuals of the ABO gene that produce one's blood type:[32][33]

text:
A
B
O

A101 (A1)
A201 (A2)
B101 (B1)
O01 (O1)
O02 (O1v)
O03 (O2)

text: The same study also identified 18 rare alleles, which generally have a weaker glycosylation activity. People with weak alleles of A can sometimes express anti-A antibodies, though these are usually not clinically significant as they do not stably interact with the antigen at body temperature.[34]

text: Cis AB is another rare variant, in which A and B genes are transmitted together from a single parent.

text: Distribution and evolutionary history[edit]

text: The distribution of the blood groups A, B, O and AB varies across the world according to the population. There are also variations in blood type distribution within human subpopulations.

text: In the UK, the distribution of blood type frequencies through the population still shows some correlation to the distribution of placenames and to the successive invasions and migrations including Norsemen, Danes, Saxons, Celts, and Normans who contributed the morphemes to the placenames and the genes to the population.[35]

text: The two common O alleles, O01 and O02, share their first 261 nucleotides with the group A allele A01.[36] However, unlike the group A allele, a guanosine base is subsequently deleted. A premature stop codon results from this frame-shift mutation. This variant is found worldwide, and likely predates human migration from Africa. The O01 allele is considered to predate the O02 allele.[citation needed]

text: Some evolutionary biologists theorize that the IA allele evolved first, followed by O (by the deletion of a single nucleotide, shifting the reading frame) and then IB.[citation needed] This chronology accounts for the percentage of people worldwide with each blood type. It is consistent with the accepted patterns of early population movements and varying prevalent blood types in different parts of the world: for instance, B is very common in populations of Asian descent, but rare in ones of Western and Northern European descent. Another theory states that there are four main lineages of the ABO gene and that mutations creating type O have occurred at least three times in humans.[37] From oldest to youngest, these lineages comprise the following alleles: A101/A201/O09, B101, O02 and O01. The continued presence of the O alleles is hypothesized to be the result of balancing selection.[37] Both theories contradict the previously held theory that type O blood evolved first.[citation needed]

text: Origin theories[edit]

text: It is possible that food and environmental antigens (bacterial, viral, or plant antigens) have epitopes similar enough to A and B glycoprotein antigens. The antibodies created against these environmental antigens in the first years of life can cross-react with ABO-incompatible red blood cells that it comes in contact with during blood transfusion later in life. Anti-A antibodies are hypothesized to originate from immune response towards influenza virus, whose epitopes are similar enough to the α-D-N-galactosamine on the A glycoprotein to be able to elicit a cross-reaction. Anti-B antibodies are hypothesized to originate from antibodies produced against Gram-negative bacteria, such as E. coli, cross-reacting with the α-D-galactose on the B glycoprotein.[38]

text: However, it is more likely that the force driving evolution of allele diversity is simply negative frequency-dependent selection; cells with rare variants of membrane antigens are more easily distinguished by the immune system from pathogens carrying antigens from other hosts. Thus, individuals possessing rare types are better equipped to detect pathogens. The high within-population diversity observed in human populations would, then, be a consequence of natural selection on individuals.[39]

text: HIV can be neutralized in in vitro experiments using antibodies against blood group antigens specifically expressed on the HIV-producing cell lines.[40][41]

text: Clinical relevance[edit]

text: The carbohydrate molecules on the surfaces of red blood cells have roles in cell membrane integrity, cell adhesion, membrane transportation of molecules, and acting as receptors for extracellular ligands, and enzymes. ABO antigens are found having similar roles on epithelial cells as well as red blood cells.[42][43]

text: Bleeding and thrombosis (von Willebrand factor)[edit]

text: The ABO antigen is also expressed on the von Willebrand factor (vWF) glycoprotein,[44] which participates in hemostasis (control of bleeding). In fact, having type O blood predisposes to bleeding,[45] as 30% of the total genetic variation observed in plasma vWF is explained by the effect of the ABO blood group,[46] and individuals with group O blood normally have significantly lower plasma levels of vWF (and Factor VIII) than do non-O individuals.[47][48] In addition, vWF is degraded more rapidly due to the higher prevalence of blood group O with the Cys1584 variant of vWF (an amino acid polymorphism in VWF):[49] the gene for ADAMTS13 (vWF-cleaving protease) maps to the ninth chromosome (9q34), the same locus as ABO blood type. Higher levels of vWF are more common amongst people who have had ischemic stroke (from blood clotting) for the first time.[50] The results of this study found that the occurrence was not affected by ADAMTS13 polymorphism, and the only significant genetic factor was the person's blood group.

text: Disease risks[edit]

text: Compared to O group individuals, non-O group (A, AB, and B) individuals have a 14% reduced risk of squamous cell carcinoma and 4% reduced risk of basal cell carcinoma.[51] Conversely, type O blood is associated with a reduced risk of pancreatic cancer.[52][53] The B antigen links with increased risk of ovarian cancer.[54] Gastric cancer has reported to be more common in blood group A and least in group O.[55]

text: According to Glass, Holmgren, et al., those in the O blood group have an increased risk of infection with cholera, and those O-group individuals who are infected have more severe infections. The mechanisms behind this association with cholera are unclear in the literature.[56]

text: ABO hemolytic disease of the newborn[edit]

text: ABO blood group incompatibilities between the mother and child does not usually cause hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN) because antibodies to the ABO blood groups are usually of the IgM type, which do not cross the placenta. However, in an O-type mother, IgG ABO antibodies are produced and the baby can potentially develop ABO hemolytic disease of the newborn.

text: Clinical applications[edit]

text: In human cells, the ABO alleles and their encoded glycosyltransferases have been described in several oncologic conditions.[57] Using anti-GTA/GTB monoclonal antibodies, it was demonstrated that a loss of these enzymes was correlated to malignant bladder and oral epithelia.[58][59] Furthermore, the expression of ABO blood group antigens in normal human tissues is dependent the type of differentiation of the epithelium. In most human carcinomas, including oral carcinoma, a significant event as part of the underlying mechanism is decreased expression of the A and B antigens.[60] Several studies have observed that a relative down-regulation of GTA and GTB occurs in oral carcinomas in association with tumor development.[60][61] More recently, a genome wide association study (GWAS) has identified variants in the ABO locus associated with susceptibility to pancreatic cancer.[62]

text: Clinical marker[edit]

text: A multi-locus genetic risk score study based on a combination of 27 loci, including the ABO gene, identified individuals at increased risk for both incident and recurrent coronary artery disease events, as well as an enhanced clinical benefit from statin therapy. The study was based on a community cohort study (the Malmo Diet and Cancer study) and four additional randomized controlled trials of primary prevention cohorts (JUPITER and ASCOT) and secondary prevention cohorts (CARE and PROVE IT-TIMI 22).[63]

text: Pseudoscience[edit]

text: During the 1930s, connecting blood groups to personality types became popular in Japan and other areas of the world.[64] There are some positive science studies.[65][66]

text: Other popular but unsupported ideas include the use of a blood type diet, claims that group A causes severe hangovers, group O is associated with perfect teeth, and those with blood group A2 have the highest IQs. Scientific evidence in support of these concepts is nonexistent.[67]

text: Data tables[edit]

text:
ABO allele frequencies in Korean, Japanese and German populations.

Population

ABO allele

A(Pro)
A(Leu)
B
O(T)
O(A)
O2

Korean (n=253)
0.022a,c
0.209c
0.209c
0.360a,e
0.200b
0d

Japanese1 (n=520)
0.071
0.216
0.178
0.273
0.262
0

German2 (n=169)
0.213
0.077
0.047
0.426
0.216
0.021

aKorean versus Japanese, p<0.001. bKorean versus Japanese, p<0.01.
cKorean versus German, p<0.001. dKorean versus German, p<0.01.
eKorean versus German, p<0.05 (Fisher's exact probability test).
1Fukumori et al., 1996. 2Nishimukai et al., 1996.

Source: Table 2, Page 333, Kang Sung-ha et al. (1997)[68]