Editing Flag of the United States (section)

==History==
{{For timeline|Timeline of the flag of the United States}}
{{see also|List of flags of the United States}}
The current design of the U.S. flag is its 27th; the design of the flag has been modified officially 26 times since 1777. The 48-star flag was in effect for 47 years until the 49-star version became official on July 4, 1959. The 50-star flag was ordered by [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|then president Eisenhower]] on August 21, 1959, and was adopted in July 1960. It is the longest-used version of the U.S. flag and has been in use for over {{age|1960|7|4}} years.<ref>{{cite web|first=Duane |last=Streufert |url=http://www.usflag.org/history/the50starflag.html |title=A website dedicated to the Flag of the United States of America – The 50 Star Flag |publisher=USFlag.org |access-date=September 12, 2013}}</ref>

===First flag===
{{Further|Continental Union Flag|Prospect Hill Flag Debate}}
[[File:Flag of the United States (1776–1777).svg|thumb|The [[Continental Union Flag]], also known as the first American flag, was used from 1775 to June 14, 1777]] 
The first official flag resembling the "Stars and Stripes" was the [[Continental Navy]] [[naval ensign|ensign]] (often referred to as the [[Continental Union Flag]],<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Williamsburg, April 20 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/40483137 |url-access=subscription |work=The Virginia Gazette |number=1289 |location=Williamsburg, Virginia |date=April 20, 1776 |page=3 |oclc=905318657 |access-date=July 14, 2024 |via=[[Ancestry.com#Newspapers.com|Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Continental Colours<!-- EDITORS NOTE: Please do not change "Colours" to American English as it would be historically inaccurate. Thank you. -->,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Extract of a letter from Cape Nichola Mole, dated Sept. 18 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1144051714 |url-access=subscription |work=The Virginia Gazette |number=91 |location=Williamsburg, Virginia |date=October 25, 1776 |page=2 |oclc=905318657 |access-date=May 10, 2025 |via=[[Ancestry.com#Newspapers.com|Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> the first American flag,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Boston, November 25 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1034014546 |url-access=subscription |work=Dunlap's Pennsylvania Packet |volume=VI |number=268 |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |date=December 27, 1776 |page=2 |issn=2689-7180 |oclc=9833137 |access-date=July 14, 2024 |via=[[Ancestry.com#Newspapers.com|Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Cambridge Flag, and Grand Union Flag) was used from 1775 to 1777. It consisted of 13 red-and-white stripes, with the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] [[Flag of Great Britain|Union Flag]] in the [[Canton (flag)|canton]]. It first appeared on December 3, 1775, when Continental Navy Lieutenant [[John Paul Jones]] flew it aboard Captain [[Esek Hopkins]]' [[flagship]] ''[[USS Alfred|Alfred]]'' on the [[Delaware River]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 1, 1905 |title=The Administration of the Continental Navy of the American Revolution |url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1905/july/administration-continental-navy-american-revolution |access-date=June 24, 2023 |website=U.S. Naval Institute |language=en}}</ref>

Prospect Hill was the location of [[George Washington]]'s command post during the [[Siege of Boston]] during the [[American Revolution]]. On New Year's Day in 1776, Washington conducted a flag-raising ceremony to raise the morale of the men of the [[Continental Army]]. The standard account features the Continental Union Flag flying, although in 2006, Peter Ansoff advanced a theory that it was actually a British Union Flag instead.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ansoff |first=Peter |year=2006 |title=The Flag on Prospect Hill |url=https://www.pdcnet.org/raven/content/raven_2006_0013_0077_0100 |journal=Raven: A Journal of Vexillology |volume=13 |pages=77–100 |doi=10.5840/raven2006134 |issn=1071-0043}}</ref> Others, such as Byron DeLear, have argued in favor of the traditional version of events.<ref>{{cite journal |last=DeLear |first=Byron |year=2014 |title=Revisiting the Flag at Prospect Hill: Grand Union or Just British? |url=http://nava.org/digital-library/raven/Raven_v21_2014_p019-070.pdf |journal=Raven: A Journal of Vexillology |volume=21 |pages=19–70 |doi=10.5840/raven2014213 |issn = 1071-0043 }}</ref> The Continental Union Flag remained the national flag until June 14, 1777.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Joint Committee on Printing |first=United States Congress |title=Our Flag |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1989 |series=H. Doc. 100-247 |location=Washington |page=3}}</ref> At the time of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] in July 1776, there were no flags with any stars on them; the [[Continental Congress]] did not adopt flags with "stars, white in a blue field" for another year. It has historically been referred to as the first flag of the United States.<ref name="Leepson">{{cite book |last=Leepson |first=Marc |title=Flag: An American Biography |year=2004}}</ref>

Colloquially referred to as the Cambridge Flag and Grand Union Flag; the terms domain did not come into use until the [[19th century]].{{Sfn|Hopkins|1893|p=291}} Although it has been claimed the more recent moniker, Grand Union Flag, was first applied to the Continental Union Flag by [[George Henry Preble|G. Henry Preble]] in his [[Reconstruction era]] book ''Our Flag;''{{sfn|Preble|1872|loc=part II}} the first substantiated use of the name came from Philadelphia resident T. Westcott in 1852 when replying to an inquiry made in ''[[Notes and Queries]]'', a London periodical, as to the origin of the U.S. flag.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Origin of the American Flag |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-springfield-daily-republican-1852-or/169192842/ |url-access=subscription |work=[[The Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts)|Springfield Daily Republican]] |volume=9 |number=245 |location=Springfield, Massachusetts |date=October 16, 1852 |page=1 |via=[[Ancestry.com#Newspapers.com|Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

[[File:Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg|thumb|The flag of the [[East India Company]], introduced in 1707 and flown at sea in the [[Indian Ocean]]]]
The flag very closely resembles the [[Flag of the East India Company|East India Company flag]] of the era. [[Charles Fawcett (historian)|Sir Charles Fawcett]] argued in 1937 that the company flag inspired the design of the U.S. flag.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{FOTW|id=gb-eic2|title=The Striped Flag of the East India Company, and its Connexion with the American "Stars and Stripes"}}</ref> Both flags could easily have been constructed by adding white stripes to a [[Red Ensign]], one of the [[British ensign#History|three maritime flags]] used throughout the [[British Empire]] at the time. However, the East India Company flag could have from nine to 13 stripes and was not allowed to be flown outside the [[Indian Ocean]].<ref>{{FOTW|id=gb-eic|title=East India Company (United Kingdom)}}</ref>

[[Benjamin Franklin]] once gave a speech endorsing the adoption of the East India Company flag by the [[United Colonies]]. He said to George Washington, "While the field of your flag must be new in the details of its design, it need not be entirely new in its elements. There is already in use a flag, I refer to the flag of the East India Company."<ref>{{cite book|first=Robert |last=Johnson |title=Saint Croix 1770–1776: The First Salute to the Stars and Stripes |page=71 |publisher=AuthorHouse |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4259-7008-6}}</ref> This was a way of symbolizing American loyalty to [[the Crown]] as well as the colonies' aspirations to be self-governing, as was the [[East India Company]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Tom |last=Horton |title=History's Lost Moments: The Stories Your Teacher Never Told You |chapter=Exposing the Origins of Old Glory's stripes |volume=5 |publisher=Trafford Publishing |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4907-4469-8}}</ref>

The theory that the Continental Union Flag was a direct descendant of the East India Company flag has been criticized as lacking written evidence;<ref name=i /> on the other hand, the resemblance to the company flag is obvious, and some of the [[Founding Fathers of the United States]] were aware of the East India Company's activities and of their free administration of [[Company rule in India|India under Company rule]].<ref name=i>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/onmyplate/saltires-and-stars-stripes/ |title=Saltires and Stars & Stripes |work =The Economic Times |date= September 22, 2014|access-date=May 23, 2017}}</ref>

===Flag Resolution of 1777===
On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed the [[Flag Acts (United States)|Flag Resolution]] which stated: "''Resolved'', That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=008/lljc008.db&recNum=90|title=A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774–1875|website=American Memory – Library of Congress }}</ref> [[Flag Day in the United States|Flag Day]] is now observed on June 14 of each year. While scholars still argue about this, tradition holds that the new flag was first hoisted in June 1777 by the [[Continental Army]] at the [[Middlebrook encampment]].<ref>Guenter (1990).</ref>

Both the [[Barry (heraldry)|stripes (barry)]] and the [[star (heraldry)|stars (mullets)]] have precedents in classical heraldry. Mullets were comparatively rare in early modern heraldry. However, an example of mullets representing territorial divisions predating the U.S. flag is the [[Valais]] 1618 coat of arms, where seven mullets stood for [[Sieben Zenden|seven districts]].

Another widely repeated theory is that the design was inspired by the [[Coat of arms of the Washington family|coat of arms of George Washington's family]], which includes three red stars over two horizontal red bars on a white field.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.selbyabbey.org.uk/washington_link.htm|title=Washington Window|access-date=April 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204220959/http://www.selbyabbey.org.uk/washington_link.htm|archive-date=February 4, 2013}}</ref> Despite the similar visual elements, there is "little evidence"<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WUFvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA342 |title=The American Flag: An Encyclopedia of the Stars and Stripes in U.S. History, Culture, and Law|last=Vile|first=John R.|year=2018|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-4408-5789-8|page=342|language=en}}</ref> or "no evidence whatsoever"<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WeUCGbaOgKQC&pg=PT147 |title=Flag: An American Biography|last=Leepson|first=Marc|year=2007|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-1-4299-0647-0|language=en|chapter=Chapter Ten: The Hundredth Anniversary}}</ref> to support the claimed connection with the flag design. The ''Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington'', published by the [[Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington]] at [[Mount Vernon]], calls it an "enduring myth" backed by "no discernible evidence."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/coat-of-arms/|title=Coat of Arms|last=Capps|first=Alan|website=The Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington|publisher=[[Mount Vernon Ladies' Association]]|language=en|access-date=January 8, 2020}}</ref> The story seems to have originated with the 1876 play ''Washington: A Drama in Five Acts'', by the English poet [[Martin Farquhar Tupper]], and was further popularized through repetition in the children's magazine ''[[St. Nicholas Magazine|St. Nicholas]]''.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

The first official U.S. flag flown during battle was on August 3, 1777, at Fort Schuyler (Fort Stanwix) during the [[Siege of Fort Stanwix]]. Massachusetts reinforcements brought news of the adoption by Congress of the official flag to Fort Schuyler. Soldiers cut up their shirts to make the white stripes; scarlet material to form the red was secured from red flannel petticoats of officers' wives, while material for the blue union was secured from Capt. Abraham Swartwout's blue cloth coat. A voucher is extant that Congress paid Capt. Swartwout of Dutchess County for his coat for the flag.<ref name="google">{{cite book |title = Naval Ceremonies, Customs, and Traditions| last1=Connell | first1 = R.W. | last2= Mack | first2 = W.P. |date= 2004 |publisher= Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-1-55750-330-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wvKiBiWKrzMC|page=140|access-date=October 27, 2014}}</ref>

The 1777 resolution was probably meant to define a [[naval ensign]]. In the late 18th century, the notion of a [[national flag]] did not yet exist or was only nascent. The flag resolution appears between other resolutions from the Marine Committee. On May 10, 1779, Secretary of the Board of War [[Richard Peters (Continental Congress)|Richard Peters]] expressed concern that "it is not yet settled what is the Standard of the United States."<ref>Mastai, 60.</ref> However, the term "Standard" referred to a national standard for the Army of the United States. Each regiment was to carry the national standard in addition to its regimental standard. The national standard was not a reference to the national or naval flag.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Furlong |first1= Rear Admiral William Rea|last2=McCandless|first2= Commodore Byron |title= So Proudly We Hail|url=https://archive.org/details/soproudlywehailh00furl |url-access= registration |date= 1981 |publisher= Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C. |pages=[https://archive.org/details/soproudlywehailh00furl/page/115 115]–116}}</ref>

The Flag Resolution did not specify any particular arrangement, number of points, nor orientation for the stars and the arrangement or whether the flag had to have seven red stripes and six white ones or vice versa.<ref name="auto">{{cite journal|last1=Williams|first1=Earl P. Jr.|title=Did Francis Hopkinson Design Two Flags?|journal=NAVA News|date=October 2012|issue=216|pages=7–9|url=http://www.flagguys.com/pdf/NAVANews_2012_no216.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306083443/http://www.flagguys.com/pdf/NAVANews_2012_no216.pdf |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |url-status=live|access-date=February 16, 2017}}</ref> The appearance was up to the maker of the flag. Some flag makers arranged the stars into one big star, in a circle or in rows and some replaced a state's star with its initial.<ref name="Lane">{{cite web | last = Lane | first = Megan | date = November 14, 2011 | title = Five hidden messages in the American flag | work = [[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15634606 | access-date = October 30, 2013}}</ref> One arrangement features 13 five-pointed stars arranged in a circle, with the stars arranged pointing outwards from the circle (as opposed to up), the [[Betsy Ross flag]]. Experts have dated the earliest known example of this flag to be 1792 in a painting by [[John Trumbull]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cooper|first1=Grace Rogers|title= Thirteen-Star Flags|date=1973|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref>

Despite the 1777 resolution, the early years of American independence featured many different, hand-crafted flags. As late as 1779, Captain [[John Manley (naval officer)|John Manley]] believed that the United States "had no national colors" so each ship flew whatever flag pleased the captain.{{sfn|Preble|1880|p=284}}

Some of the early flags included blue stripes<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cooper|first1=Grace Rogers|title=Thirteen-Star Flags|date=1973|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=9 (in paper); pp. 21/80 (in pdf)|quote=In 1792, Trumbull painted thirteen stars in a circle in his General George Washington at Trenton in the Yale University Art Gallery. In his unfinished rendition of the Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, dates not established, the circle of stars is suggested and one star shows six points while the thirteen stripes are red, white, and blue. How accurately the artist depicted the star design that he saw is not known. At times, he may have offered a poetic version of the flag he was interpreting which was later copied by the flag maker. The flag sheets and the artists do not agree.|citeseerx=10.1.1.639.8200}}</ref> as well as red and white. [[Benjamin Franklin]] and [[John Adams]], in an October 3, 1778, letter to [[Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies]], described the American flag as consisting of "13 stripes, alternately red, white, and blue, a small square in the upper angle, next to the flagstaff, is a blue field, with 13 white stars, denoting a new Constellation."<ref>{{cite book|last1= Cooper |first1=Grace Rogers|title=Thirteen-Star Flags |date=1973 |publisher= Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C. |page= 3}}</ref> John Paul Jones used a variety of 13-star flags on his U.S. Navy ships including the well-documented 1779 flags of the ''Serapis'' and the ''Alliance''. The [[Serapis flag]] had three rows of eight-pointed stars with red, white, and blue stripes. However, the flag for the ''Alliance'' had five rows of eight-pointed stars with 13 red and white stripes, and the white stripes were on the outer edges.<ref>Furlong, p. 130.</ref> Both flags were documented by the Dutch government in October 1779, making them two of the earliest known flags of 13 stars.<ref>{{cite book|last1= Moeller|first1= Henry W |title= Unfurling the History of the Stars and Stripes|date=1992 |publisher= Amereon House|location=Mattituck, NY|pages=25–26, color plates 5A, 5B}}</ref>

===Designer of the first stars and stripes===
[[File:Hopkinson Flag of the United States.svg|thumb|Francis Hopkinson's flag for the U.S., an interpretation, with 13 six-pointed stars arranged in five rows<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Williams | first1=Earl P. Jr. |title=Did Francis Hopkinson Design Two Flags? |journal=NAVA News |date=October 2012 |issue=216 |pages=7–9 |url=https://www.flagguys.com/pdf/NAVANews_2012_no216.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306083443/http://www.flagguys.com/pdf/NAVANews_2012_no216.pdf |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
[[File:Hopkinson Flag of the United States Navy.svg|thumb|Hopkinson Flag for the U.S. Navy, an interpretation<ref>Williams (2012), p.7.</ref>]]
[[Francis Hopkinson]] of [[New Jersey]], a naval flag designer and a signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], designed a flag in 1777<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hess |first1=Debra |year=2008|title=The American Flag |page=21|publisher=Benchmark Books |isbn=978-0-7614-3389-7}}</ref> while he was the chairman of the Continental Navy Board's Middle Department, sometime between his appointment to that position in November 1776 and the time that the flag resolution was adopted in June 1777. The Navy Board was under the Continental Marine Committee.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hastings|first1=George E.|title=The Life and Works of Francis Hopkinson|date=1926|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|page=218}}</ref> Not only did Hopkinson claim that he designed the U.S. flag, but he also claimed that he designed a flag for the U.S. Navy. Hopkinson was the only person to have made such a claim during his own life when he sent a letter and several bills to Congress for his work. These claims are documented in the [[Journals of the Continental Congress]] and George Hasting's biography of Hopkinson. Hopkinson initially wrote a letter to Congress, via the Continental Board of Admiralty, on May 25, 1780.<ref>Hastings, p. 240.</ref> In this letter, he asked for a "Quarter Cask of the Public Wine" as payment for designing the U.S. flag, the seal for the Admiralty Board, the seal for the Treasury Board, Continental currency, the [[Great Seal of the United States]], and other devices. However, in three subsequent bills to Congress, Hopkinson asked to be paid in cash, but he did not list his U.S. flag design. Instead, he asked to be paid for designing the "great Naval Flag of the United States" in the first bill; the "Naval Flag of the United States" in the second bill; and "the Naval Flag of the States" in the third, along with the other items. The flag references were generic terms for the naval ensign that Hopkinson had designed: a flag of seven red stripes and six white ones. The predominance of red stripes made the naval flag more visible against the sky on a ship at sea. By contrast, Hopkinson's flag for the United States had seven white stripes and six red ones – in reality, six red stripes laid on a white background.<ref name="Williams, pp. 7-9">Williams, pp. 7–9.</ref> Hopkinson's sketches have not been found, but we can make these conclusions because Hopkinson incorporated different stripe arrangements in the Admiralty (naval) Seal that he designed in the Spring of 1780 and the Great Seal of the United States that he proposed at the same time. His Admiralty Seal had seven red stripes;<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Moeller|first1=Henry W. |title=Two Early American Ensigns on the Pennsylvania State Arms|journal=NAVA News|date=January 2002|issue=173|page=4}}</ref> whereas his second U.S. Seal proposal had seven white ones.<ref name=Patterson>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/TheEagleAndTheShield/The%20Eagle%20and%20the%20Shield#page/n81|title=The Eagle and the Shield: A History of the Great Seal of the United States|last1=Patterson|first1=Richard Sharpe|last2=Dougall|first2=Richardson|publisher= Washington: Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, Dept. of State: for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off.|date=1978|orig-date=1976 i.e. 1978|series=Department and Foreign Service series; 161 Department of State publication; 8900|lccn=78602518|oclc=4268298|page=37}}</ref> Remnants of Hopkinson's U.S. flag of seven white stripes can be found in the Great Seal of the United States and the President's seal.<ref name="Williams, pp. 7-9"/> The stripe arrangement would have been consistent with other flags of the period that had seven stripes below the canton, or blue area with stars.  For example, two of the earliest known examples of Stars and Stripes flags were painted by a Dutch artist who witnessed the arrival of Navy Lieutenant John Paul Jones' squadron in Texel, The Netherlands, in 1779. The two flags have seven stripes below the canton.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Furlong |first1=William Rea |last2=McCandless |first2=Byron |title=So Proudly We Hail: The History of the United States Flag |date=1961 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |location=Washington |page=130}}</ref>

When Hopkinson was chairman of the Navy Board, his position was like that of today's Secretary of the Navy.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Zall|first1=Paul M.|title=Comical Spirit of Seventy-Six: The Humor of Francis Hopkinson|date=1976|publisher=Huntington Library|location=San Marino, California|page=10}}</ref> The payment was not made, most likely, because other people had contributed to designing the [[Great Seal of the United States]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Earl P. Jr. |title=The 'Fancy Work' of Francis Hopkinson: Did He Design the Stars and Stripes? |journal=Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives |date=Spring 1988 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=47–48}}</ref> and because it was determined he already received a salary as a member of Congress.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc01845)) |title=Journals of the Continental Congress – Friday, October 27, 1780 |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=September 3, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Furlong, William Rea |author2=McCandless, Byron |year=1981 |title=So Proudly We Hail: The History of the United States Flag |pages=[https://archive.org/details/soproudlywehailh00furl/page/98 98]–101 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-87474-448-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/soproudlywehailh00furl |url-access=registration }}
</ref> This contradicts the legend of the [[Betsy Ross flag]], which suggests that she sewed the first Stars and Stripes flag at the request of the government in the Spring of 1776.<ref name="fcic">[http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/misc/ourflag/history1.htm Federal Citizen Information Center: The History of the Stars and Stripes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903224200/http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/misc/ourflag/history1.htm |date=September 3, 2011 }}. Retrieved June 7, 2008.</ref><ref>Embassy of the United States of America [https://web.archive.org/web/20080225010634/http://stockholm.usembassy.gov/usflag/hopkinson.html]. Retrieved April 11, 2008.</ref>

On May 10, 1779, a letter from the War Board to George Washington stated that there was still no design established for a national standard, on which to base regimental standards, but also referenced flag requirements given to the board by [[Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben|General von Steuben]].<ref name=Furlong117>{{cite book |author1=Furlong, William Rea |author2=McCandless, Byron |year=1981 |title=So Proudly We Hail: The History of the United States Flag |pages=[https://archive.org/details/soproudlywehailh00furl/page/117 117]–118 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-87474-448-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/soproudlywehailh00furl |url-access=registration }}</ref> On September 3, Richard Peters submitted to Washington "Drafts of a Standard" and asked for his "Ideas of the Plan of the Standard," adding that the War Board preferred a design they viewed as "a variant for the Marine Flag." Washington agreed that he preferred "the standard, with the Union and Emblems in the center."<ref name=Furlong117/> The drafts are lost to history but are likely to be similar to the first [[Jack of the United States]].<ref name=Furlong117/>

[[File:US flag 13 stars – Betsy Ross.svg|thumb|right| 13-star [[Betsy Ross flag|Betsy Ross]] variant]]
The origin of the stars and stripes design has been muddled by a story disseminated by the descendants of [[Betsy Ross]]. The [[apocryphal]] story credits [[Betsy Ross]] for sewing [[Betsy Ross flag|one of the first flags]] from a pencil sketch handed to her by George Washington. No such evidence exists either in George Washington's diaries or the Continental Congress's records. Indeed, nearly a century passed before Ross's grandson, William Canby, first publicly suggested the story in 1870.<ref>{{cite web| last = Crews| first = Ed| title = The Truth About Betsy Ross|url=http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/Summer08/betsy.cfm| access-date = June 27, 2009}}</ref> By her family's own admission, Ross ran an upholstery business, and she had never made a flag as of the supposed visit in June 1776.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Canby|first1=George|last2=Balderston|first2=Lloyd|title=The Evolution of the American flag|url=https://archive.org/details/evolutionofameri0000unse_j3m2|url-access=limited|date=1917|publisher=Ferris and Leach|location=Philadelphia|pages=[https://archive.org/details/evolutionofameri0000unse_j3m2/page/48 48], 103}}</ref> Furthermore, her grandson admitted that his own search through the Journals of Congress and other official records failed to find corroborating evidence for his grandmother's story.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Canby |first1=William J. |title=The History of the Flag of the United States: A Paper read before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (March 1870) |url=http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/more/canby.htm |publisher=Independence Hall Association |access-date=February 24, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220070301/http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/more/canby.htm |archive-date=February 20, 2015  }}</ref>

[[George Henry Preble]] states in his 1882 text that no combined stars and stripes flag was in common use prior to June 1777,{{sfn|Preble|1880|p=244}} and that no one knows who designed the 1777 flag.{{sfn|Preble|1880|p=256}} Historian [[Laurel Thatcher Ulrich]] argues that there was no "first flag" worth arguing over.<ref name=common>{{cite magazine|url=http://common-place.org/vol-08/no-01/ulrich|first=Laurel Thatcher|last=Ulrich|title=How Betsy Ross Became Famous|magazine=Common-Place|volume=8|number=1|date=October 2007|access-date=February 15, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090404104129/http://www.common-place.org/vol-08/no-01/ulrich/ |archive-date=April 4, 2009}}</ref> Researchers accept that the United States flag evolved, and did not have one design. Marla Miller writes, "The flag, like the Revolution it represents, was the work of many hands."<ref>{{cite book|last=Miller|first=Marla R.|title=Betsy Ross and the Making of America|year=2010|publisher=Henry Holt and Company, LLC|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8050-8297-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780805082975 |page=181}}</ref>

The family of [[Rebecca Young (flag maker)|Rebecca Young]] claimed that she sewed the first flag.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Schaun|first1=George and Virginia|title=Historical Portrait of Mrs. Mary Young Pickersgill|journal=The Greenberry Series on Maryland|volume=5|page=356|publisher=Greenberry Publications|location=Annapolis, MD}}</ref> Young's daughter was [[Mary Young Pickersgill|Mary Pickersgill]], who made the [[Star-Spangled Banner Flag]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Furlong, William Rea |author2=McCandless, Byron |year=1981 |title=So Proudly We Hail: The History of the United States Flag |page=[https://archive.org/details/soproudlywehailh00furl/page/137 137] |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-87474-448-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/soproudlywehailh00furl |url-access=registration }}
</ref><ref name="NMAH-making">{{cite web |url=http://americanhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/making-the-flag.aspx | title=The Star-Spangled Banner: Making the Flag | work=[[National Museum of American History]] | publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] | access-date=October 5, 2009}}</ref> She was assisted by Grace Wisher, a 13-year-old African American girl.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yuen |first1=Helen and Asantewa Boakyewa |title=The African American girl who helped make the Star-Spangled Banner |url=http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/05/the-african-american-girl-who-helped-make-the-star-spangled-banner.html |website=O Say Can You See? |publisher=Smithsonian |access-date=October 9, 2018|date=May 30, 2014 }}</ref>

===Later flag acts===
{{See also|Flag Acts}}
{{Multiple image|width=220px|direction=vertical
|image1=Star-Spangled Banner flag.svg|caption1=15-star, 15-stripe [[Star-Spangled Banner Flag]]
|image2=US flag 48 stars.svg|caption2=The 48-star flag was in use from 1912 to 1959, the second longest-used U.S. flag. The current U.S. flag is the longest-used flag, having surpassed the 1912 version in 2007.}}
[[File:US historical flags-United States of America.jpg|thumb|left|Oil painting depicting the 39 historical U.S. flags]]
In 1795, the number of stars and stripes was increased from 13 to 15 (to reflect the entry of Vermont and Kentucky as states of the Union). For a time the flag was not changed when subsequent states were admitted, probably because it was thought that this would cause too much clutter. It was the 15-star, 15-stripe flag that inspired [[Francis Scott Key]] to write "Defence of Fort M'Henry", later known as "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]", which is now the American [[national anthem]]. The flag is currently on display in the exhibition "The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag That Inspired the National Anthem" at the [[Smithsonian Institution]] [[National Museum of American History]] in a two-story display chamber that protects the flag while it is on view.<ref name="Smithsonian"/>

On April 4, 1818, a plan was passed by Congress at the suggestion of U.S. Naval Captain [[Samuel C. Reid]]<ref>{{Cite book |author=United States Government |title=Our Flag |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |year=1861 |id=S. Doc 105-013 |url=http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=105_cong_documents&docid=f:sd013.105.pdf }}</ref> in which the flag was changed to have 20 stars, with a new star to be added when each new state was admitted, but the number of stripes would be reduced to 13 so as to honor the [[Thirteen Colonies|original colonies]]. The act specified that new flag designs should become official on the first July 4 ([[Independence Day (US)|Independence Day]]) following the admission of one or more new states.<ref name="stockholm" />

In 1912, the 48-star flag was adopted. This was the first time that a flag act specified an official arrangement of the stars in the canton, namely six rows of eight stars each, where each star would point upward.<ref name="stockholm" /> The U.S. Army and U.S. Navy, however, had already been using standardized designs. Throughout the 19th century, different star patterns, both rectangular and circular, had been abundant in civilian use.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

In 1960, the current 50-star flag was adopted, incorporating the most recent change, from 49 stars to 50, when the present design was chosen, after Hawaii gained statehood in August 1959. Before that, the admission of [[Alaska]] in January 1959 had prompted the debut of a short-lived 49-star flag.<ref name="stockholm">{{cite web |url=http://stockholm.usembassy.gov/usflag/flaghist.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225142325/http://stockholm.usembassy.gov/usflag/flaghist.html |archive-date=February 25, 2008 |title=United States Flag History |work=United States Embassy |access-date=February 3, 2009 |date=October 5, 2005 |author=United States Embassy Stockholm }}</ref>

===49- and 50-star unions===
[[File:Us flag with eagle.jpg|thumb|A U.S. flag with gold fringe and a gold eagle on top of the flag pole]]
When [[Alaska]] and [[Hawaii]] were being considered for statehood in the 1950s, more than 1,500 designs were submitted to [[President of the United States|President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]. Although some were 49-star versions, the vast majority were 50-star proposals. At least three of these designs were identical to the present design of the 50-star flag.<ref>These designs are in the [[Eisenhower Presidential Center|Eisenhower Presidential Archives]] in [[Abilene, Kansas|Abilene]], Kansas. Only a small fraction of them have ever been published.</ref> At the time, credit was given by the executive department to the [[United States Army Institute of Heraldry]] for the design.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}} The 49- and 50-star flags were each flown for the first time at [[Fort McHenry]] on [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]], in 1959 and 1960 respectively.<ref name="fnrasmussentbs">{{cite news |last1=Rasmussen |first1=Frederick |title=A half-century ago, new 50-star American flag debuted in Baltimore |work=The Baltimore Sun |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-backstory-1960-flag-20100702,0,1768337,full.story |access-date=June 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621033842/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-07-02/news/bs-md-backstory-1960-flag-20100702_1_48-star-flag-blue-canton-fort-mchenry |archive-date=June 21, 2017}}</ref> A popular myth is that an Ohio teenager and later mayor of [[Napoleon, Ohio]], named Robert G. Heft had designed the 50-star flag, but this was debunked by [[Alec Nevala-Lee]] in his investigative article "False Flag" on June 30, 2022. Before the publication of said article the myth had been cited as fact in numerous sources, including Wikipedia and the [[Smithsonian Institution]] website.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nevala-Lee |first=Alec |author-link=Alec Nevala-Lee |date=June 30, 2022 |title=False Flag |url=https://slate.com/culture/2022/06/american-flag-history-scam-designer-robert-heft-50-stars.html |website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]}}</ref>

On July 4, 2007, the 50-star flag became the version of the flag in the longest use, surpassing the 48-star flag that was used from 1912 to 1959.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Institution |first1=Smithsonian |title=Facts about the United States Flag |url=https://www.si.edu/spotlight/flag-day/flag-facts |website=Smithsonian Institution |access-date=May 20, 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

==="Flower Flag" arrives in Asia===
The U.S. flag was brought to the city of [[Guangzhou|Canton]] (Guǎngzhōu) in China in 1784 by the merchant ship [[Empress of China (1783)|''Empress of China'']], which carried a cargo of [[ginseng]].<ref name=Preble>{{cite book|last=Preble|first=George Henry|title=History of the Flag of the United States of America|year=1880 |edition=second revised |publisher=A. Williams and Co |location=Boston |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyflagunit00prebgoog/page/n353 298] |url=https://archive.org/details/historyflagunit00prebgoog}}</ref> There it gained the designation "Flower Flag" ({{zh|c=[[wikt:花旗|花旗]]|p=huāqí|cy=fākeì}}).<ref name="Tappan">{{cite book |last=March |first=Eva |title=The Little Book of the Flag |year=1917 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |location=Boston |page=92 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ltAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA92}}</ref> According to a pseudonymous account first published in the ''[[Boston Courier]]'' and later retold by author and U.S. naval officer [[George Henry Preble|George H. Preble]]:

{{blockquote|When the thirteen stripes and stars first appeared at Canton, much curiosity was excited among the people. News was circulated that a strange ship had arrived from the further end of the world, bearing a flag "as beautiful as a flower". Every body went to see the ''kwa kee chuen'' [{{zh|c=花旗船|cy=Fākeìsyùhn|labels=no}}], or "flower flagship". This name at once established itself in the language, and America is now called the ''kwa kee kwoh'' [{{zh|t=[[wikt:花旗國|花旗國]]|cy=Fākeìgwok|labels=no}}], the "flower flag country"—and an American, ''kwa kee kwoh yin'' [{{zh|c=花旗國人|cy=Fākeìgwokyàhn|labels=no}}]—"flower flag countryman"—a more complimentary designation than that of "red headed barbarian"—the name first bestowed upon the Dutch.<ref>{{cite news |title=Curiosa Sinica |work=Boston Courier |date=June 15, 1843}}<!-- http://www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/newspapers/doc/v2:11BE3A41D7E057DF%40GBNEWS-11C7DAE2233F21E0%402394367-11C7DAE23582E5F8%400-11C7DAE288B45908%40Curiosa+Sinica/?search_terms=kwoh%7Cchoong --></ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Chinese Etymologies |location=Washington, D.C. |work=[[Kendall's Expositor]] |publisher=William Greer |date=June 27, 1843 |volume=3 |issue=14 |page=222|via=Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QEQ9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA222}}</ref>}}

In the above quote, the Chinese words are written phonetically based on spoken [[Standard Cantonese|Cantonese]]. The names given were common usage in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.<ref name="ChiDict">See ''[http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddictbasic&wdqb=花旗&wdrst=0&wddmtm=1&wdeac=1 Chinese English Dictionary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426060048/http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddictbasic&wdqb=%E8%8A%B1%E6%97%97&wdrst=0&wddmtm=1&wdeac=1 |date=April 26, 2011 }}''<br />Olsen, Kay Melchisedech, ''Chinese Immigrants: 1850–1900'' (2001), p. 7.<br />"[http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=190 Philadelphia's Chinatown: An Overview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624040601/http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=190 |date=June 24, 2008 }}", The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.<br />Leonard, George, "[http://www.georgeleonard.com/angelisland.html The Beginnings of Chinese Literature in America: the Angel Island Poems]". {{dead link|date=April 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

{{anchor|Etymology}}Chinese now refer to the United States as ''Měiguó'' from Mandarin ({{zh|s=[[wikt:美国|美国]]|t=美國}}). ''Měi'' is short for ''Měilìjiān'' ({{zh|s=美利坚|t=美利堅}}, [[phono-semantic matching]] of "American") and "guó" means "country", so this name is unrelated to the flag. However, the "flower flag" terminology persists in some places today: for example, [[American ginseng]] is called ''flower flag ginseng'' ({{zh|s=花旗参|t=花旗參}}) in Chinese, and [[Citibank]], which opened a branch in China in 1902, is known as ''Flower Flag Bank'' ({{zh|s=花旗银行|labels=no}}).<ref name="ChiDict" />

Similarly, Vietnamese also uses the borrowed term from Chinese with [[Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary|Sino-Vietnamese]] reading for the United States, as {{lang|vi|{{linktext|Hoa Kỳ|lang=vi}}}} from {{vi-nom|花旗}} ("Flower Flag"). Even though the United States is also called ''nước Mỹ'' (or simpler ''Mỹ'') colloquially in Vietnamese before the name ''Měiguó'' was popular among Chinese, ''Hoa Kỳ'' is always recognized as the formal name for the United States with the [[Vietnam|Vietnamese state]] officially designates it as {{Lang|vi|Hợp chúng quốc Hoa Kỳ}} ({{Chuhan|合眾國花旗}}, {{Lit|United states of the Flower Flag}}).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Phương Lan |date=July 10, 2007 |title=Bộ Ngoại giao: Đề nghị thống nhất sử dụng tên gọi "Hợp chúng quốc Hoa Kỳ" |trans-title=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Vietnam)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]]: Request to unify the use of the name ''"Hợp chúng quốc Hoa Kỳ"'' |url=https://baochinhphu.vn/news-10210789.htm |access-date=September 14, 2023 |website=Viet Nam Government Portal |publisher=[[Government of Vietnam]] |language=vi}}</ref> By that, in Vietnam, the U.S. is also nicknamed ''xứ Cờ Hoa'' ("land of Flower Flag") based on the ''Hoa Kỳ'' designation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Đ |first=N.C.T |title=Xứ Cờ Hoa |trans-title=Land of Flag Flower? |url=https://baodanang.vn/channel/5433/201905/xu-co-hoa-3175705/ |access-date=September 14, 2023 |website=Đà Nẵng Online |language=vi}}</ref>

Additionally, the seal of Shanghai Municipal Council in [[Shanghai International Settlement]] from 1869 included the U.S. flag as part of the top left-hand shield near the flag of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|UK]], as the U.S. participated in the creation of this enclave in the Chinese city of Shanghai. It is also included in the badge of the Gulangyu Municipal Police in the [[Gulangyu|International Settlement of Gulangyu]], [[Amoy]].<ref>{{FOTW|id=cn-kul|title=International Settlement of Kulangsu (Gulangyu, China)}}</ref>

President [[Richard Nixon]] presented a U.S. flag and [[Moon rock]]s to [[Mao Zedong]] during [[1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China|his visit to China]] in 1972. They are now on display at the [[National Museum of China]].{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

The U.S. flag took its first trip around the world in 1787–1790 on board the ''[[Columbia Rediviva|Columbia]]''.<ref name="Tappan"/> [[William Driver]], who coined the phrase "Old Glory", took the U.S. flag around the world in 1831–32.<ref name="Tappan"/> The flag attracted the notice of the Japanese when an oversized version was carried to [[Yokohama]] by the steamer ''Great Republic'' as part of a round-the-world journey in 1871.<ref>"[http://www.american.edu/heintze/flag.htm American Flag Raised Over Buddhist Temple in Japan on July 4, 1872]" {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130202052331/http://www.american.edu/heintze/flag.htm |date=February 2, 2013 }}</ref>

=== Civil War and the flag ===
[[File:Our Banner in the Sky by Frederic Edwin Church.jpg|thumb|''Our Banner in the Sky'' (1861) by [[Frederic Edwin Church]]]]
Prior to the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the American flag was rarely seen outside of military forts, government buildings and ships. This changed following the [[Battle of Fort Sumter]] in 1861. The [[Fort Sumter Flag|flag]] flying over the fort was allowed to leave with the Union troops as they surrendered. It was taken across [[Union (American Civil War)|Northern]] cities, which spurred a wave of "Flagmania". The Stars and Stripes, which had had no real place in the public conscious, suddenly became a part of the national identity. The flag became a symbol of the Union, and the sale of flags exploded at this time.
Historian [[Adam Goodheart]] wrote:
{{blockquote|For the first time American flags were mass-produced rather than individually stitched and even so, manufacturers could not keep up with demand. As the long winter of 1861 turned into spring, that old flag meant something new. The abstraction of the Union cause was transfigured into a physical thing: strips of cloth that millions of people would fight for, and many thousands die for.<ref name=goodheart-1861>{{cite book |first=Adam |last=Goodheart |author-link=Adam Goodheart |title=1861: The Civil War Awakening |chapter=Prologue |url=http://www.adamgoodheart.com/ |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |year=2011 |via=adamgoodheart.com |access-date=July 31, 2015 |isbn=978-0-307-59666-6}}</ref>}}

In the Civil War, the flag was allowed to be carried into battle, reversing the 1847 regulation which prohibited this. (During the American Revolutionary War and [[War of 1812]] the army was not officially sanctioned to carry the United States flag into battle. It was not until 1834 that the artillery was allowed to carry the American flag; the army would be granted to do the same in 1841. However, in 1847, in the middle of the [[Mexican–American War|war with Mexico]], the flag was limited to camp use and not allowed to be brought into battle.)<ref>{{Cite book|title=The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict|publisher=VZ Publications|year=2006|page=68}}</ref> Some wanted to remove the stars of the states which had seceded but [[Abraham Lincoln]] was opposed, believing it would give legitimacy to the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] states.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Leepson|first=Marc|title=Flag: An American Biography|publisher=[[Thomas Dunne Books]]|year=2005|pages=94–109}}</ref>

===Historical progression of designs===
{{Main|History of the flags of the United States}}
{{See also|List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union}}
In the following table depicting the 28 various designs of the United States flag, the star patterns for the flags are merely the ''usual'' patterns, often associated with the [[United States Navy]]. Canton designs, prior to the proclamation of the 48-star flag, had no official arrangement of the stars. Furthermore, the exact colors of the flag were not standardized until 1934.<ref>(For alternate versions of the flag of the United States, see the [https://www.fotw.info/flags/us-ststr.html Stars of the U.S. Flag page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050222201438/https://www.fotw.info/flags/us-ststr.html |date=February 22, 2005 }} at the [[Flags of the World (website)|Flags of the World]] website.)
{{further|Territorial evolution of the United States}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.si.edu/spotlight/flag-day/flag-facts |title=Facts about the United States Flag |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |access-date=April 22, 2022}}</ref>
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|- style="background:#ccc;"
! Number of<br />stars
! Number of<br />stripes
! class="unsortable" | Design(s)
! class="unsortable" width=15% | Arrangement of stars
! class="unsortable" | States represented<br />by new stars
! Dates in use
! Duration
|- valign="top"
| 0 || 13 || {{ListFlag|Flag of the United States (1776–1777).svg|84px}} || {{n/a}}|| [[Continental Union Flag]]: [[Connecticut Colony|Connecticut]], [[Delaware Colony|Delaware]], [[Province of Georgia|Georgia]], [[Province of Maryland|Maryland]], [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts Bay]], [[Province of New Hampshire|New Hampshire]], [[Province of New Jersey|New Jersey]], [[Province of New York|New York]], [[Province of North Carolina|North Carolina]], [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]], [[Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations|Rhode Island and Providence Plantations]], [[Province of South Carolina|South Carolina]], [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]] represented by stripes, no stars || {{nowrap|{{Dts|1775|12|3}}<ref name=leepson>Leepson, Marc. (2005). ''Flag: An American Biography.'' New York: [[St. Martin's Press]].</ref>&nbsp;– June 14, 1777}}
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|018|{{frac|1|1|2}} years}}
|- valign="top"
| 13 || 13 || [[File:US flag 13 stars.svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:Hopkinson Flag.svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:John Trumbull's Depiction of the Flag of the USA.svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:US flag 13 stars – Betsy Ross.svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:Cowpens Flag.svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File: Flag of the United States (4-5-4 pattern).svg |border|84x84px]]
|Various:<br />3–2–3–2–3<br />''or''<br />Square<br />''or''<br />Circle<br />''or''<br />4–5–4
| [[Connecticut]], [[Delaware]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Maryland]], [[Massachusetts]], [[New Hampshire]], [[New Jersey]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[North Carolina]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[Rhode Island]], [[South Carolina]], [[Virginia]] || {{Dts|1777|06|14}}&nbsp;– May 1, 1795
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|215|18 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 15 || 15 || [[File:US flag 15 stars.svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:Star-Spangled Banner flag.svg|border|84px]] ||5 rows of 3||[[Vermont]], [[Kentucky]] || {{Dts|1795|05|1}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1818
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|278|23 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 20 || 13 || [[File:US flag 20 stars.svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:US 20 Star GreatStar Flag.svg|border|84px]]  ||4 rows of 5<br />''or''<br />[[Pentagram]]|| [[Tennessee]], [[Ohio]], [[Louisiana]], [[Indiana]], [[Mississippi]] || {{Dts|1818|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1819
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|012|1 year}}
|- valign="top"
| 21 || 13 || [[File:US flag 21 stars.svg|border|84px]] || 5–4–6–6 || [[Illinois]] || {{Dts|1819|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1820
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|012|1 year}}
|- valign="top"
| 23 || 13 || [[File:US flag 23 stars.svg|border|84px]] || 6–5–6–6 || [[Alabama]], [[Maine]] || {{Dts|1820|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1822
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|024|2 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 24 || 13 || [[File:US flag 24 stars.svg|border|84px]] ||4 rows of 6|| [[Missouri]] || {{Dts|1822|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1836<br />1831 term "Old Glory" coined
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|168|14 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 25 || 13 || [[File:US flag 25 stars.svg|border|84px]] <br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div> [[File:Flag of the United States (25 stars, linear pattern).svg|border|84px]] <br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div> [[File:Flag of the United States (25 stars, staggered pattern).svg|border|84px]]
|  6–5–7–7<br />''or''<br />5 rows of 5 || [[Arkansas]] || {{Dts|1836|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1837
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|012|1 year}}
|- valign="top"
| 26 || 13 || [[File:US flag 26 stars.svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:US 26 Star GreatStar Flag.svg|border|84px]] || 7–6–6–7<br />''or''<br />Inverted pentagram with large star in center|| [[Michigan]] || {{Dts|1837|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1845
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|096|8 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 27 || 13 || [[File:US flag 27 stars.svg|border|84px]] || 7–6–7–7|| [[Florida]] || {{Dts|1845|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1846
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|012|1 year}}
|- valign="top"
| 28 || 13 || [[File:US flag 28 stars.svg|border|84px]] ||4 rows of 7 || [[Texas]] || {{Dts|1846|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1847
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|012|1 year}}
|- valign="top"
| 29 || 13 || [[File:US flag 29 stars.svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:US 29 Star Diamond Pattern Flag.svg|border|84px]] || 8–7–6–8<br />''or''<br />Diamond pattern|| [[Iowa]] || {{Dts|1847|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1848
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|012|1 year}}
|- valign="top"
| 30 || 13 || [[File:US flag 30 stars.svg|border|84px]]||5 rows of 6 || [[Wisconsin]] || {{Dts|1848|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1851
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|036|3 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 31 || 13 || [[File:US flag 31 stars.svg|border|84px]] || 7–5–6–6–7 || [[California]] || {{Dts|1851|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1858
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|084|7 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 32 || 13 || [[File:US flag 32 stars.svg|border|84px]] || 7–6–6–6–7  || [[Minnesota]] || {{Dts|1858|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1859
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|012|1 year}}
|- valign="top"
| 33 || 13 || [[File:US flag 33 stars.svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:US 33 Star Fort Sumter Flag.svg|84px|border]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:US 33 Star GreatStar Flag.svg|84px|border]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:US 33 Star Diamond Pattern Flag.svg|84px|border]]||7–7–5–7–7<br /> ''or''<br />Various patterns || [[Oregon]] || {{Dts|1859|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1861
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|024|2 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 34 || 13 || [[File:US flag 34 stars.svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:Flag of the United States of America (1861-1863).svg|border|84px]] || 7–7–6–7–7<br />''or''<br />Circle pattern|| [[Kansas]] || {{Dts|1861|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1863
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|024|2 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 35 || 13 || [[File:US flag 35 stars.svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:U.S. flag (35 stars).svg|border|84px]]|| 5 rows of 7<br />''or''<br />Circle pattern || [[West Virginia]] || {{Dts|1863|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1865
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|024|2 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 36 || 13 || [[File:US flag 36 stars.svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:US 36 Star Wagon Wheel Flag.svg|border|84px]] ||8–6–8–6–8<br />''or''<br />Wagon wheel pattern|| [[Nevada]] || {{Dts|1865|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1867
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|024|2 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 37 || 13 || [[File:US flag 37 stars.svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:Flag of the United States (1867-1877).svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:US 37 Star Medallion Centennial Flag.svg|border|84px]]||7–8–7–8–7<br />''or''<br />8–7–7–7–8<br />''or''<br />Two concentric rings || [[Nebraska]] || {{Dts|1867|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1877
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|120|10 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 38 || 13 || [[File:US flag 38 stars.svg|border|84px]]<br /><div style="line-height:0.2;"><br /></div>[[File:Flag of the United States of America (1877–1890).svg|border|84px]] || 7–8–8–8–7<br />''or''<br />Circle pattern||[[Colorado]] || {{Dts|1877|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1890
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|156|13 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 43 || 13 || [[File:US flag 43 stars.svg|border|84px]]  || 8–7–7–7–7–7|| [[North Dakota]], [[South Dakota]], [[Montana]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], [[Idaho]] || {{Dts|1890|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1891
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|012|1 year}}
|- valign="top"
| 44 || 13 || [[File:US flag 44 stars.svg|border|84px]] || 8–7–7–7–7–8|| [[Wyoming]] || {{Dts|1891|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1896
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|060|5 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 45 || 13 || [[File:US flag 45 stars.svg|border|84px]] || 8–7–8–7–8–7|| [[Utah]] || {{Dts|1896|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1908
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|144|12 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 46 || 13 || [[File:US flag 46 stars.svg|border|84px]] || 8–7–8–8–7–8|| [[Oklahoma]] || {{Dts|1908|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1912
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|048|4 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 48 || 13 || [[File:US flag 48 stars.svg|border|84px]]|| 6 rows of 8  || [[New Mexico]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nmhistorymuseum.org/blog/2011/09/the-officially-unofficial-kind-of-illegal-47-star-flag-comes-in-for-repairs/ |title=The Officially Unofficial Kind of Illegal 47-Star Flag Comes in for Repairs |date=September 8, 2011 |access-date=June 21, 2022 |archive-date=August 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818080058/https://www.nmhistorymuseum.org/blog/2011/09/the-officially-unofficial-kind-of-illegal-47-star-flag-comes-in-for-repairs/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Arizona]] || {{Dts|1912|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1959
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|564|47 years}}
|- valign="top"
| 49 || 13 || [[File:Flag of the United States (1959–1960).svg|border|84px]] || 7 rows of 7  || [[Alaska]] || {{Dts|1959|07|4}}&nbsp;– July 3, 1960
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|012|1 year}}
|- valign="top"
| 50 || 13 || [[File:Flag of the United States (Pantone).svg|border|84x84px]] || 6–5–6–5–6–5–6–5–6 <br />(5 rows of 6 alternating with 4 rows of 5)
|[[Hawaii]]|| {{Dts|1960|07|04}}&nbsp;– present
| style="text-align:left;"| {{Sort|{{Age in months|1960|7|4}}|{{age|1960|7|4}}}} years
|}