Gail McLain, age 7, of Tulsa, Okla., for her question:

WHERE IS BETSY ROSS FLAG?

Congress didn't officially approve "The Star Spangled Banner" as the national anthem of the United States until March, 1931. But the song, with words written by Francis Scott Keys and music composed by John Stafford Smith, has been popular since it was written in 1814 following the British bombardment of Fort McHenry. For 100 years it was the unofficial national anthem.

Betsy Ross was a Philadelphia seamstress who made flags at the time of the American Revolution. Legend says that she was the person who made the first American Flag that displayed both stars and stripes.

There is no official or absolute proof, however, that Betsy Ross was indeed the one who made the nation's first Flag. But there are some indications that she might have been.

A grandson of Betsy Ross named William Canby wrote a paper in 1870 in which he reported that his 84 year old grandmother told him the story of how she made the first official Flag for the United States.

The story said that in June of 1776, a committee headed by George Washington asked Mrs. Ross to make a flag. On the committee was George Ross, an uncle of Betsy's first husband who was also a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

The committee asked for a flag with six pointed stars but Betsy, according to the story, persuaded them to use five pointed stars since she believed they looked better.

There is no proof that this actually happened. But we definitely know that Betsy was one of the official flagmakers for the Pennsylvania Navy and that it is possible that the stars and stripes design she made was the one adopted by Congress on June 14, 1777.

We do not know where Betsy's flag is at the present time, but many historic flags from the Revolutionary days are on display in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Included is the flag that was still there in the dawn's early light following the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. This is the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words for the nation's national anthem.

Betsy Ross was born in Philadelphia and was the daughter of a Quaker carpenter.

Betsy Ross was born in 1752 and eloped with an upholsterer named John Ross when she was 21. Soon afterward, Ross was killed in an accident and Mrs. Ross took over his shop. It was here that she became known as an expert seamstress and was often called on by the Pennsylvania Navy to make flags.

Mrs. Ross remarried twice and had seven daughters.