Americana Decorations: This is the Year to Go All-Out on Red, White and Blue Decor

America celebrates summer with a number of true-blue, flag-waving celebrations. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, we march in parades, attend picnics, host barbecues and family reunions. We head for the beach, the lake or the hills for a little adventure, rolling down highways or soaring from sea to shining sea.

The casual freedom summer represents for many is revealed in a wide array of home decor styles. Some favor neutrals, some delight in brights and some prefer a more traditional style.

If the coming 250th birthday of our nation puts you in a red, white and blue mood, let your home demonstrate that patriotic spirit with Americana decor.

Americana home decor is both nationalistic and nostalgic. It reflects common American experiences, themes and memories, evoking our sometimes idealized shared history and heritage.

An Americana color scheme incorporates red, white and blue in muted or weathered tones: Think brick red, navy blue or cream. Stars and stripes figure prominently in design motifs.

Americana style is often rustic or homey, suggesting rural life and past eras. Decor typically incorporates rugged, long-lasting materials such as canvas, burlap, distressed wood, metal and leather.

If classic Americana style speaks to you, there’s almost no area in the home that can’t be filled with Americana decorations.

Here are a few examples:

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Whether you sprinkle patriotic decorations around your home or go all-out on all-American style, demonstrating your patriotism through your decor is just part of being American.

Americana encompasses that patriotic spirit with down-home simplicity and warmth.

From your walkway to your front door and from your fireplace mantel to your back patio, adding red, white and blue accents shows pride in your home and country. A little bit of Americana goes a long way to enhancing your decor and your Fourth of July celebrations!

Browse Christmas Central’s extensive selection of 4th of July lights and decorations for more Americana and patriotic decorations. 

One of the first actions of America’s Founding Fathers was to create a new flag. The American flag served as a military symbol and a tangible representation of the fledgling nation to rally public support.

Francis Hopkins, a New Jersey congressman who signed the Declaration of Independence, is generally credited with the flag’s original design of 13 stripes in alternating red and white, with a blue field bearing 13 stars. The number 13 represented the 13 original colonies.

The Continental Congress approved the design of the flag of the United States of America on June 14, 1777. In the U.S, Flag Day continues to be recognized on June 14.

As the nation grew, stars were added each time a new state entered the union. For a while, the number of stripes also increased, until the design became too complicated.

According to the National Flag Foundation, Bob G. Heft, a high school student from Ohio, imagined the 50-star field as part of a class project and later managed to convince government officials to adopt his design when Hawaii and Alaska became states.

The U.S. Flag code, which outlines the rules for how the American flag is displayed, became law on June 22, 1942, although the guidelines were established much earlier by patriotic organizations.

Among other guidelines, the code states that:

• The flag should be displayed from sunrise to sunset. It can be displayed at night if properly lighted.

• The flag should be suspended so it does not touch the ground.

• The flag should not be flown during bad weather, unless it is an all-weather flag..

• The flag should not be flown upside down, except to signal distress or danger.

• The flag should be flown at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day, then raised to the top of the staff.