Flag Day
On June 14, Americans celebrate the adoption of the first national flag. Also known as the "Stars and Stripes" or "Old Glory," the first American flag was approved by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. In 1818, after 5 more states joined the Union, Congress passed legislation fixing the number of stripes at 13 and requiring that the number of stars equal the number of states.
Origin and Design
In the British colonies of North America before the Revolution, each of the 13 colonies had its own flag. On Jan. 2, 1776, the first flag of the United States was raised at Cambridge, Mass., by George Washington. Known as the Grand Union flag, it consisted of 13 stripes, alternate red and white, with a blue canton bearing the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew. On June 14, 1777, Congress enacted a resolution “that the Flag of the United States be 13 stripes, alternate red and white, that the Union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” The story of Betsy Ross and the first flag is now somewhat discredited; official records have not confirmed that she was responsible for the design and making of the first flag.
Congress, on Jan. 13, 1794, with Vermont and Kentucky having been admitted to the Union, added a stripe and a star for each state. Congress in 1818 enacted that the 13 stripes, denoting the 13 original colonies, be restored and a star added to the blue canton, for each state, after its admission to the Union. All of the states and territories of the United States also have their own flags.
