![]() ![]() ![]() Another, more likely, popular theory is that the flag was designed by Congressman Francis Hopkinson. Rebecca Young's daughter was Mary Pickersgill, who made the Star Spangled Banner Flag. Another woman, Rebecca Young, has also been credited as having made the first flag by later generations of her family. No evidence for this theory exists, however, beyond Betsy's descendants' much later recollections of what she told her family. A popular story credits Betsy Ross for sewing the first flag from a pencil sketch by George Washington who personally commissioned her for the job. The origin of the stars and stripes design is uncertain. Given the scant archaeological and written evidence, it is unknown which design was the most popular at that time. Popular designs at the time were varied and most were individually crafted rather than mass-produced. The so-called Betsy Ross Flag (with the thirteen stars arranged in a circle), although never an official flag, is the oldest version of any United States flag to appear on any physical relic: it is historically referenced in contemporary battlefield paintings by John Trumbull and Charles Willson Peale, which depict the circular star arrangement. The Flag Resolution did not specify any particular arrangement for the stars. On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution which stated: "Resolved, That the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation." Flag Day is now observed on June 14 of each year. More likely it was based on a flag of the Sons of Liberty, one of which consisted of 13 red and white alternating horizontal stripes. This is the design of the flag of the District of Columbia. The BEIC flag could have from 9 to 15 stripes, however, and was not allowed to be flown outside the Indian Ocean.Īnother theory holds that the red-and-white stripe and later, stars-and-stripes motif of the flag may have been based on the Washington family coat-of-arms, which consisted of a shield "argent, two bars gules, above, three mullets gules" (a white shield with two red bars below three red stars). It closely resembles the British East India Company (BEIC) flag of the same era, and an argument holds that the BEIC flag indeed inspired the design. ![]() The origins of the flag's design are unclear. Although it has never had any official status, it was used throughout the American Revolutionary War by George Washington and formed the basis for the design of the first official United States flag. The Grand Union Flag, displayed here, has historically been referred to as the "First National Flag". ![]() The 48-star version went unchanged for 47 years, the longest time the flag went unmodified until July 4, 2007, when the current 50-star flag broke the record.Īt the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, the United States had no official national flag. The flag has been changed 26 times since the new, 13-state union adopted it. The blue canton continues to be used as a jack, however, by various federally-owned vessels, including those of the Coast Guard, Military Sealift Command, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. United States warships now display as a jack, the Culpepper Ensign, which is displayed here. This part of the national flag can stand alone as a maritime flag called the Union Jack which served as the United States jack on warships from 1777 until 2002. Nicknames for the flag include "the Stars and Stripes", "Old Glory", and "the Star-Spangled Banner".īecause of its symbolism, the starred blue canton is called the "union". The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states and the 13 stripes represent the original Thirteen Colonies that rebelled against the British crown and became the first states in the Union. The Flag of the United States of America consists of 13 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars. ![]()
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