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Clifton Man Hopes Obama Will Take Notice Of Proposed Changes To American Flag

CLIFTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A New Jersey man hopes his redesign of the U.S. flag will win the hearts of Americans.

Samuel J. Kapral is nearly 90, he has lived in Clifton his entire life. The Navy vet served during World War II, and said the design of the star spangled banner has always bothered him.

The stars he said, are way too confided in that square. He said from a distance they are barely recognizable.

"Ever since I could remember, I thought about that. Why are they in such a limited area?" he told CBS2's Vanessa Murdock.

That's why he spent the past four years refining his new design for the flag.

Kapral expanding the box holding the stars to feature them more prominently.

In 1777 Congress passed a resolution that the flag have 13 stripes, alternating red and white, and the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field.

By July 4, 1960, the flag had 13 stripes and 50 stars.

Flag Design
A Clifton man has proposed changes to the American flag that would give stars a more prominent spot. (Credit: CBS2)

Kapral's design meets Congress' requirements, but he acknowledges there may be some resistance.

"I know some people are very sentimental about this," he said.

Kapral said even his own son doesn't think the new design will fly.

New Yorkers seemed to agree.

"That's his proposed design? No, why should we change it?" Josh McCord said.

"It's so highly symbolic of our country and people are so attached to it, no," Gary Scheft said.

But, Kapral said why not?

"We modernize everything else on the market," he said.

Kapral has contacted President Barack Obama to ask which design he prefers.

In September, he sent the President a letter included side by side comparisons of Old Glory and his flag.

"I just hope he has a chance to see it," he said.

A chance to see the stars displayed as distinctly as Kapral thinks they should be.

Kapral believes his design is more practical too. No matter which side you look at it from it looks the same.

 

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