Yesterday was the 14th of June, and other than its ordinal designation, it seemed no different from today or the day before.

Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette Five-year-old Sarah Hoffman, of West View, is held by her mother, Tammy, during a Flag Day ceremony yesterday at Flag Plaza near Mellon Arena. Click photo for larger image. Online graphic Test your knowledge about the U.S. flag.

Many in Pittsburgh managed to hide their excitement. For them, the day came and passed like it does most years -- relatively unnoticed.

But for 20 people in Downtown Pittsburgh, and for U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, there was no avoiding it. They were stopped by the Post-Gazette and asked to participate in what amounted to a grand old pop quiz on the Stars and Stripes.

Of the 20 citizens, half said they knew yesterday was Flag Day. But it was news to Alexandra Pennington, 22, of Oakland, who asked: "There's a Flag Day?"

The first quiz question seemed easy enough. Only two of 20 did not know that the first official U.S. flag had 13 stars and 13 stripes. (Multiple-choice quiz questions appear in accompanying chart.)

The second question was diabolical, trading on the myth that Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag. Seventeen of 20 believed that to be true.

In fact, she didn't, according to the National Flag Foundation's executive director, Joyce Doody. Ross was a flag maker, but there's no evidence she made the original Old Glory. Her grandson tried to popularize that myth in the late 1800s, with obvious success.

When told the right answer -- Francis Hopkinson -- Raymond Klehm, 43, of Mt. Lebanon, commented, "History was my favorite subject in school, but -- who is she?"

Nineteen got the third question correct, knowing what event inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Question four was a little tougher. Only 11 answered correctly. Joann Mazza, 43, of Bridgeville, asked for a lifeline to consult with one of her co-workers. Doody said it's perfectly all right to fly the flag at night, provided it's well-lighted.

Only five of the 20 got question five, knowing that the 50th star was added to the flag in 1960, the year after Hawaii's admission to the union (Aug. 21, 1959).

This one even momentarily tripped up the flag expert, Doody, until she recalled that changes to the flag go into effect on the 4th of July following the state joining the union.

So the 20 respondents didn't exactly pass with flying colors, scoring a collective 56 percent on the quiz.

Santorum, as befits his station, was ahead of the curve.

After spending the day in Centre County with President Bush, he agreed to take part in the quiz and got four out of five. It seems that even a well-educated federal lawmaker can fall victim to a popular myth.

"I'm a little disappointed about the Betsy Ross question," he said. "That only gets me a B."