Flag of the United States

What the flag of the United States looks like

The US flag has thirteen horizontal stripes alternating red and white, starting and ending with red. In the upper left corner, the canton is a blue rectangle that extends down to the bottom of the seventh stripe. It holds fifty white five-pointed stars arranged in nine staggered rows, alternately six and five stars across. The flag is longer than most, with a height-to-length ratio of 10:19.

An executive order of 1959 sets the layout in detail, including the sizes of the canton, the stripes and the stars. The shades are fixed separately by government color standards, and the official colors are called Old Glory red and Old Glory blue. The flag is also known as the Stars and Stripes, the Star-Spangled Banner and Old Glory. For the emoji version, see the US flag emoji page.

American flag meaning and symbolism

The thirteen stripes stand for the original thirteen colonies that declared independence from Britain, and each of the fifty stars represents a state. Thirteen stripes in total means that the top and bottom are red, which gives seven red and six white stripes.

The colors had no official meaning when the flag was created. In 1782 Charles Thomson, the secretary of Congress, described the colors of the Great Seal, not the flag: white for purity and innocence, red for hardiness and valor, and blue for vigilance, perseverance and justice. These are the meanings most often repeated for the flag today. The stars on a blue field were described in 1777 as representing a new constellation.

History of the American flag

On 14 June 1777 the Continental Congress resolved that the flag of the United States would have thirteen stripes, alternating red and white, and thirteen white stars on a blue field. This is the origin of Flag Day, observed on 14 June. Before this, the colonists used the Grand Union Flag, which combined thirteen stripes with the British Union Jack in the canton.

The identity of the designer is unclear. The story that Betsy Ross sewed the first flag at the request of George Washington is a family tradition and is not backed by firm records. Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, is sometimes named as the designer.

As states joined the Union, the flag changed. In 1795 it was given fifteen stripes and fifteen stars, and this flag flew over Fort McHenry in 1814 and inspired the national anthem. In 1818 Congress decided to return to thirteen stripes and to add a star for each new state on the next 4 July. The current flag with fifty stars became official on 4 July 1960, after Hawaii joined in 1959. The new layout is often credited to Robert G. Heft, who made a 50-star design as a high school class project in 1958.

Rules for displaying the US flag

The US Flag Code is a set of guidelines, not a penal law. It says the flag should be displayed from sunrise to sunset unless lit at night, should not touch the ground, and should hang above other flags on the same staff. The main exception is the church pennant, which may fly above it during religious services held by naval chaplains at sea. An upside-down flag is a recognized signal of dire distress.

The flag of Puerto Rico and those of the states and territories are flown below the national flag or on separate poles. A new star is only added when a new state joins the Union, so the number of stars stays at fifty unless Congress admits another state. To see how it compares with other flags, go to flags of the world.