Flag of United States
The flag of United States has 13 alternating red and white horizontal stripes of equal width with red stripes at the top and bottom. There are seven red stripes and six white stripes. A dark blue rectangular block is placed in the top left corner of the flag with 50 white five point stars. The stars are arranged the nine horizontal offset rows alternating between six stars and five stars.
The 50 stars represent the constellation of the 50 states of United States and the 13 rows represent the 13 original colonies that rebelled against the British. The flag has various nicknames like The Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, The American flag and The Star-spangled Banner.
The 50 star flag was first hoisted on July 4, 1960 after Hawaii gained statehood. The flag was designed by 18-year old Robert G. Heft in 1958 as a school project which was accepted by the Congress.
Symbolism
Many regard the American flag to represent the rights and freedom guaranteed in the US Constitution and its Bill of Rights. It has also been traditionally a symbol of liberty as described in the Declaration of Independence.
The stars and stripes represent the number of current and original states, respectively. The union with the stars represents a constellation. However, no legally defined symbolism exists regarding the colors and shapes on the flag.
Specifications
The flag’s basic design is specified by the 4 U.S.C § 1, while the 4 U.S.C. § 2 delineates the addition of new stars to represent new states.
- Flag Hoist (width): A = 1.0
- Flag Fly (length): B = 1.9
- Union Hoist (width): C = 0.5385 (A x 7/13)
- Union Fly (length): D = 0.76 (B × 2/5)
- E = 0.054
- F = 0.0538 (C/10, One-tenth the height of the field of stars)
- G = 0.063
- H = 0.063 (D/12, One twelfth the width of the field of stars)
- Star Diameter: K = 0.0616
- Stripe Width: L = 0.0769
Colors
Below are specified exact shades of color to be used on the American flag:
Color |
Cable Color |
Pantone |
Web Color |
RGB Values |
Dark Red |
70180 |
193 C |
#BF0A30 |
(191,10,48) |
Navy Blue |
70075 |
281 C |
#002868 |
(0,40,104) |
White |
70001 |
Safe |
#FFFFFF |
(255,255,255) |
History of the American Flag
The First Flag
The flag of the United States went through 26 changes since the 13-union state adopted it. The first version was the Grand Union flag with 13 alternating red and white strips and the British Union jack located on the upper left-hand corner. It was first hoisted above Washington’s base in Prospect Hill on January 1, 1776.
America had no official flag at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The Grand Union flag, which was used throughout the American Revolution, did not hold any official status. Nonetheless, many would historically refer to it as the “first American flag”.
1777 Flag Resolution
In order to establish a flag for the new nation, the Marine Committee of the 2 nd Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution on June 14, 1777. The Act specified that the flag of the United States should have 13 alternating stripes of red and white with 13 white stars representing the union placed in a blue field.
However, the resolution did not specify any particular position, number of points, or orientation for the stars. Several 13-star arrangements have appeared in the United States’ history. The most widely recognized is the so-called “Betsy Ross Flag” which was named after the woman who had sewn the first American flag. Her versions show 13 outwardly-oriented 5-pointed stars circularly arranged. Other 13-star arrangements are the Francis Hopkinson flag, Cowpens flag, and the Brandywine flag.
Origins of the Stars and Stripes
A popular story involving Betsy Ross, the person who had sewn the Grand Union flag, is widely regarded as the actual tale behind the first American flag. She purportedly got the design from a pencil sketch by George Washington, who had personally commissioned her to sew the flag.
The design for the Grand Union flag became the basis of the first US official flag. But, the origins of the design have also been debated by historians. Some claim that the design is likened to the flag used by the British East India Company, which had 9 to 12 stripes. Another theory claims that the inspiration for the star and stripes motif had sprung from the Washington coat-of-arms. Some theories claim that the design was based on one of the flag of the Sons of Liberty, one of which had 13 alternating red and white stripes.
The only person who claimed to have designed the American flag was Francis Hopkinson. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and had most likely designed the 1777 flag while he was the chairman of the Continental navy Boards Middle Department.
Changes and Other Flag Acts
In 1795, the number of stars and stripes became 15 to reflect the entry of Vermont and Kentucky as new union states. It was the 15-star flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the 1814 Battle of Baltimore that had inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem “The Star-Spangled Banner,” now the United States’ national anthem.
In 1818, Congress passed another Act which specified that the flag should contain 20 stars. A new star has to be added each time a new state is admitted. However, the 13 stripes remain to honor the original colonies that revolted against Britain.
Change in the design and arrangement of the stars in the union occurred in 1960 when the flag gained 50 stars after Hawaii was declared a state. This requirement was met by President Eisenhower’s Executive Order No. 10834. In 1959, the admission of Alaska into statehood had prompted the use of a short-lived 49-star flag. By 2007, the 50-star flag is regarded as the longest rendition of the American flag in use.
