Valentine's Day and The Stars and Stripes U.S. Flag

Continental Navy USS Ranger

On 14 February 1778, the national flag of the United States, The Stars and Stripes, was formally recognized for the first time (by a foreign naval vessel).

French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte rendered a 9-gun salute-- given by the French fleet at Quiberon Bay-- to the Continental USS Ranger under the flag hoisted via revered U.S. Naval Captain John Paul Jones.

It's believed that the timing of this scenario was coincidental to Valentine's Day; still, no doubt that a lot of love for fellow man, family and country took place in spirit on that day shortly after recognition of U.S. independence by-- and Treaty of Alliance with-- France.

As homeland battles for freedom continued, USS Ranger was captured in Charleston by the British in 1780, brought into the Royal Navy as HMS Halifax, and later decommissioned (1781).

Ref:

Wikipedia contributors. "February 14." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 14 Feb. 2017. Web. 14 Feb. 2017.

NHHC. "French, American Alliance Hastened End of Revolutionary War." Naval History Blog. U.S. Naval Institute, 08 Jun. 2015. Web. https://www.navalhistory.org/2015/06/08/french-american-alliance-hastened-end-of-revolutionary-war. 14 Feb. 2017. 

Edward Moran. First Reception of the American Flag by a Foreign Government. 1898. Gary Priolo. Navsource. http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/86/86293.htm Web. 2017 Feb 14.