Civics

The American Flag

Thirteen stripes for the colonies that started it. Fifty stars for the states it became. Two hundred and forty-nine years of history stitched into red, white, and blue.

1777 to the present27 official versions50 stars, 13 stripes

Before There Was a Flag, There Was an Argument

The flag did not spring fully formed from a single genius mind. It evolved through protest flags, colonial traditions, a one-sentence congressional resolution, and the work of many hands over many years.

Anatomy of the Flag

Canton (Union)

The blue rectangle in the upper-left corner containing the stars. The word canton comes from heraldry. The stars section is also called the union.

Hoist

The vertical edge of the flag attached to the pole. Flag proportions and star sizes are calculated relative to the hoist. The official U.S. flag has a hoist-to-fly ratio of 10:19.

Fly

The horizontal length of the flag, the free edge that waves in the wind. On a standard 3x5 flag, the fly is 5 feet.

Field

The thirteen alternating stripes: seven red and six white, always beginning and ending with red.

Obverse and Reverse

The obverse is the side where the union is in the upper-left from the viewer's perspective. The reverse is the other side, where the union appears in the upper-right.

Star arrangement

Nine offset horizontal rows: five rows of six stars alternating with four rows of five stars, governed by Executive Order 10834 (1959).

Sources & Further Reading

Flag design and origin history is drawn from the National Flag Foundation, the American Battlefield Trust, the National Archives Foundation, and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Flag Code text is from 4 U.S.C. Chapter 1. The Robert Heft account is drawn from contemporaneous newspaper records and the National Flag Foundation. The Betsy Ross analysis draws on academic historians including Marla Miller and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.