The American flag: meaning of the stars, stripes and colors

The flag of the United States is one of the most recognized national symbols in the world. Its design is simple to describe, and the law does it in one sentence: thirteen horizontal stripes, alternately red and white, and a union of white stars in a blue field (4 U.S.C. § 1). What changes is the number of stars, which follows the number of states.

The stripes and the stars

• 13 stripes, seven red and six white, starting and ending with red, stand for the 13 original colonies.
• 50 white stars on a blue field in the upper corner next to the staff, the union or canton, stand for the 50 states.

Under 4 U.S.C. § 2, a star is added when a new state is admitted, and the change takes effect on the Fourth of July after the admission. According to the Government Publishing Office’s Ben’s Guide, the 50-star flag dates from July 4, 1960, after Hawaii became the fiftieth state.

The colors

The law names the colors only as red, white and blue. According to the Senate document Our Flag, the colors “did not have meanings for the Stars and Stripes when it was adopted in 1777”. The meanings usually given come from the Great Seal of the United States: in 1782, Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, reported to Congress that the colors of the seal’s stripes “are those used in the flag of the United States of America”, and that:

The proportions

Executive Order 10834 of August 21, 1959 sets the design and the proportions of the flag, with the hoist, the height of the flag, as 1.0:

The union therefore covers the top seven stripes. The order applies to flags for federal agencies; according to the Congressional Research Service, the Flag Code does not set the size or proportions of flags for civilians, and commercial flags are made in sizes such as 3 × 5 ft. More in the guide to flag sizes.

From 13 stars to 50

The resolution of June 14, 1777 read: “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.” According to Our Flag, it gave no instruction on the number of points on the stars or their arrangement, so early flags had stars scattered, in rows or in a circle, some with six or eight points. Strong evidence, according to the same document, points to Francis Hopkinson of New Jersey as responsible for the stars.

The 15-star flag of 1795 is the one that flew over Fort McHenry in 1814 and inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner”. Captain Samuel C. Reid of the Navy then suggested keeping 13 stripes and adding only stars, which the act of April 4, 1818 made law.

Betsy Ross

According to Our Flag, Betsy Ross made flags for 50 years, including for the Pennsylvania State Navy in 1777, but there is no proof that she made the first Stars and Stripes. Her grandson William J. Canby first made the story public in 1870, and the “Betsy Ross flag”, with its 13 stars in a circle, did not appear until the early 1790s.

Names of the flag

According to Ben’s Guide, the flag is also called the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory and the Star-Spangled Banner, the last also the title of the national anthem. The history of the flag in American life, from the liberty poles of the Revolution to the 50-star flag, is in the guide to flagpole history, and the other official flags in the guide to flags of the United States.