Captain William Driver is widely recognized as the person who first named the flag “Old Glory.” He reportedly called the 24-star American flag that his mother and others had sewn for him “Old Glory” when he hoisted it aboard his ship in the early 1820s, around 1824, and the name became associated with the flag he then carried on his voyages and later displayed inland in Nashville.
Overview of the claim
- The original flag, presented to Driver as a gift, was named Old Glory by Driver himself as he celebrated its hoisting, and the name stuck in popular usage over time.
- Driver’s later life and actions—keeping the flag safe during Civil War turmoil, updating it with more stars, and displaying it publicly—are often cited as reinforcing the association of Old Glory with his flag and, by extension, the nickname for the American flag itself.
Notable discussions and alternate perspectives
- Some sources note that the exact origin of the nickname is debated, with multiple stories and variations about who first used the term. Nevertheless, Driver’s declaration in 1824 is consistently cited as the earliest explicit attribution of the name to a specific flag.
- Smithsonian and National Museum of American History materials reinforce Driver’s role and describe how the name appeared publicly in association with his flag, contributing to its enduring status as a nickname for the United States flag.
Bottom line
- The first person commonly credited with giving the flag the name Old Glory is Captain William Driver, based on contemporaneous accounts of him naming the flag in 1824 and the subsequent public association of that name with his flag.