Symbols and holidays

The flag has had 50 stars since July 4, 1960, but the stripes have stayed at 13 since 1818.

The final civics section of the 2025 list, Symbols and Holidays, is short: questions 119 to 124 on symbols and 125 to 128 on holidays. Questions 119 and 120 were covered in the geography unit, so this unit starts at 121. Two of these questions are starred, which makes them part of the 65/20 set.

The flag

The flag has 13 stripes because there were 13 original colonies (question 121, starred). It has 50 stars because there is one star for each state (question 122). The 50-star flag became official on July 4, 1960, the year after Hawaii became the 50th state. Under the Flag Act of 1818 the stripes stay at 13 no matter how many states join; only stars are added.

The anthem and the motto

The national anthem is The Star-Spangled Banner (question 123). Francis Scott Key wrote the words in 1814 after watching the British attack on Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the War of 1812, and Congress made it the national anthem in 1931. E Pluribus Unum, Latin for Out of many, one, was the nation’s first motto (question 124); it appears on the Great Seal of the United States, adopted in 1782. In 1956 Congress made In God We Trust the official national motto, which is why the question says first motto.

Holidays

Independence Day is a holiday to celebrate U.S. independence from Britain; it is the country’s birthday (question 125). It falls on July 4, a starred question on the 2008 test. Question 126, starred, asks for three national U.S. holidays; the 2008 test asks for two. The table lists the 11 federal holidays set by law, with their dates. Several are tied to a weekday, such as Labor Day on the first Monday in September, so their calendar date moves each year.

Memorial Day is a holiday to honor soldiers who died in military service (question 127). Veterans Day honors people who have served in the U.S. military (question 128). The two are easy to mix up under pressure: Memorial Day is for those who died, in late May, and Veterans Day is for everyone who served, on November 11, the date the fighting in World War I stopped in 1918. Juneteenth, June 19, marks the day in 1865 when news of freedom reached enslaved people in Galveston, Texas; it became a federal holiday in 2021.

A safe way to answer question 126 is to pick three holidays with fixed dates that you cannot confuse, such as New Year’s Day, Independence Day and Christmas Day. All three are on both lists, and each one also answers the 2008 question that asks for two.

2008 version: Symbols and Holidays, questions 96 to 100