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Nickname for the flag of the United States

Old Glory is a nickname for the flag of the United States. The original "Old Glory" was a flag owned by the 19th century American sea captain William Driver (March 17, 1803 – March 3, 1886), who flew the flag during his career at sea and later brought it to Nashville, Tennessee, where he settled. Driver greatly prized the flag and ensured its safety from the Confederates, who attempted to seize the flag during the American Civil War. In 1922, Driver's daughter and niece claimed to own the original "Old Glory", which became part of the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, where it remains at the National Museum of American History.

[[File:Flag of the United States (1822 1836). svg|thumb|The 24 star variant of the flag, which was the national flag at the time of Driver's voyage and the first US flag to be called 'Old Glory', a term Driver coined in 1831. At age 13, Driver ran away from home to become a cabin boy on a ship. At 21, Driver qualified as a master mariner and assumed command of his own ship, the Charles Doggett. In celebration of his appointment, Driver's mother and other women sewed the flag and gave it to him as a gift in 1824. It was believed that while leaving the harbor, the Captain unfurled his new flag, calling out "Behold Old Glory." With this flag flying over his ship, Driver went on to have a colorful career as a U. S. merchant seaman, sailing to China, India, Gibraltar, and the South Pacific. He participated in the tortoiseshell trade and knew some Fijian. In 1831, while voyaging in the South Pacific, Driver's ship "was the sole surviving vessel of six that departed Salem the same day." In Tahiti, where they withdrew because of illness, Driver picked up the 65 descendants of the mutineers of HMS Bounty and brought them back to Pitcairn Island (a noteworthy act that helped publicize Driver's nickname for the flag). Driver was convinced that God saved his ship to rescue the islanders. two of his sons were fervent Confederates who enlisted in local regiments. One of Driver's sons died from wounds suffered at Perryville. In March 1862, Driver wrote: "Two sons in the army of the South! My entire house estranged . and when I come home . no one to soothe me." Introducing himself as a sea captain and Unionist, Driver had brought the coverlet with him and with a pocket knife ripped open the seams, revealing the flag.

The Smithsonian Institution has regarded the Roland flag as the authentic Old Glory, since "documentary evidence in the Tennessee State Library and Archives suggests it was the one hidden in the quilt and presented to Union troops who took Nashville. The Roland flag is 17x10 feet. The Peabody flag is 12x6 feet. The flag was in fragile condition and had to be carefully shipped and displayed. A conservation evaluation of both flags by NMAH curator Jennifer Locke Jones and Thomassen Krauss began in 2012. Preliminary findings indicate that the larger Roland flag has the stronger claim to being the original Old Glory but that the Peabody flag dated to the same era and is a legitimate Driver family heirloom and Civil War era relic. The Roland Old Glory is heavily worn on the fly edges, consistent with the wear of a seagoing flag. The Peabody Essex Museum has in its collection fragmentary scraps from what was claimed to be Old Glory.