Editing Flag of the United States (section)

===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>