Captain Stephen Driver, a shipmaster of Salem, Massachusetts, coined this name for the flag in 1831. As he was leaving on the voyage of the CHARLES DOGGETT (which climaxed with the rescue of the mutineers of the BOUNTY), he was presented with a beautiful flag of twenty four stars. As the banner opened for the first time, he reportedly exclaimed "Old Glory!"

He took the flag with him when he retired to Nashville in 1837, and it became a familiar sight to the townspeople by the time the Civil War began. When Tennesee seceeded from the Union, the Rebel forces searched for the banner several times, but couldn't find it.

When the Union forces captured Nashville on Feb. 25, 1862, they raised a rather small American flag over the city. The citizens immediately began asking Captain Driver if Old Glory still existed. Much to their surprise, it did - sewn inside his quilted bedcover. Though 60 years old at the time, Captain Driver climbed the tower to replace the smaller banner with his. The Sixth Ohio Regiment later adopted the nickname, and retold the story often.

"Old Glory" is the most illustrious of a number of flags - both Northern and Confederate - reputed to have been similarly hidden, then later revealed as times changed.

Captain Driver is buried in the old Nashville City Cemetary. It is one of the three places authorized by Congressional Act to fly the United States Flag 24 hours a day.

The current location of Old Glory is uncertain. A caption above a faded black and white picture in the book, The Stars and the Stripes, says only that " 'Old Glory' may no longer be opened to be photographed, and no color photograph is available." Visible in the photo in the lower right corner of the canton is an appliqued anchor, Captain Driver's very personal note.