"If you want my flag, you'll have to take it over my dead body," said William Driver, an old sea captain living in Nashville, Tennessee.  He was a loyal Union patriot, known for flying his 17-by-10-foot United States flag, nicknamed "Old Glory," during the Civil War.

Old Glory was given to William Driver by his mother after he was made captain of the Charles Doggett at the age of 21.  The flag's nickname was given by Driver, who continued to use the name for his flag throughout his life.  Curator Jennifer Locke Jones, from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, said Driver "was taking a bit of America to uncharted territories and he felt very proud that this was the symbol he flew under.  He took a piece of his home with him wherever he went."

When the Confederates threatened to take his flag, Driver took serious measures to ensure its safety.  He and a few of his loyal neighbors sewed the flag safely into his bedspread.  When Tennessee was reclaimed by the Union in February 1862, Driver felt it was safe enough to expose Old Glory.  He was then allowed to hoist the flag up the Tennessee state capitol building.

The National Museum of American History has housed Old Glory since 1922, where it continues to represent loyalty, freedom, and hope to this day.