American Flag

The first American flag was created during the American Revolutionary War. Since then, the American flag has undergone a lot of changes. Over the 19th and 20th centuries, these changes reflected the addition of new states.

The American Flag is known by many popular names. It has been called the Stars and Stripes, referring to its unique design. It has also been called the Star Spangled Banner and the Old Glory.

American Flag History

A Brief History of the American Flag,  perhaps the world's most famous and recognized flag.

Read more about the American Flag History >>

Bonnie Blue Flag

History of the Bonnie Blue Flag used by the Confederate States of America

Read more about the Bonnie Blue Flag >>

Confederate Flag

The official Confederate flag looked a lot like the flag of the Union so had to be adapted Read more about the Confederate Flag >>

Culpeper Flag

History of the Culpeper Flag 'Don't Tread on Me'! Read more about the Culpeper Flag >>

Gadsden Flag

The Gadsden Flag was a flag that was historically used during the American Revolution Read more about the Gadsden Flag >>

Grand Union Flag

Grand Union Flag was the flag of the American colonies during the early years of the American Revolutionary War Read more about the Grand Union Flag >>

Star Spangled Banner

The Star Spangled Banner and the Battle of Baltimore Read more about the Star Spangled Banner >>

Top 10 American Flags List

During the course of its history, United States has seen a number of very important flags Read more about the Top 10 American Flags List >>

Top Ten Facts – American Flag

American Flag Facts Discover 10 Interesting and Surprising things about the American Flag Read more about the Top Ten Facts – American Flag >>

US Flag Code

The US Flag code is a set of guidelines, laws and etiquette norms Read more about the US Flag Code >>


History of the American Flag

The American Revolutionary War broke out in 1775. This war was fought between the American colonies and the British forces.

During the war, American states elected a parliament of their own which was called the Continental Congress.

The second such Congress met in 1777 and was called the Second Continental Congress.

While the war was still going on, the Second Continental Congress decided that the newly-born USA should have a flag of its own. So Congress passed a resolution on June 14, 1777. This came to be known as the Flag Resolution.

Capitol-Buiilding-Sketch

In the Flag Resolution, Congress decided that the flag should have 13 red and 13 white alternating stripes. And the top left corner of the flag should have 13 white stars.

The total number of white stripes, red stripes, and stars were 13 because, at the time, the United States was comprised of 13 states.

American-Flags-American-Flag

Changes to the Flag

The Congress resolution didn’t provide all the details regarding the design of the flag. So many different versions of the flag came into being. Also, as the years passed, many changes had to be made to the flag.

For instance, as the number of states increased, the flag design was modified to include more stars representing the states.

The first major official change to the flag took place in January 1794 when the total number of stars and stripes was increased to 15.

In 1818, the total number of stripes was changed back to 13 in order to represent the original 13 states, and it was decided that the total number of stars would represent the total number of states.

In 1912, Congress resolved that the stars on the flag should be placed in rows of eight. When the number of states reached 50 in August 1959, Congress resolved that the stars should now be placed in rows of seven.

The role of Betsy Ross

According to the popular history of the American flag, Betsy Ross is famously regarded as the person who sewed the first American flag. Although this has been believed for many centuries, no one is sure if it is a fact or a legend.

The Star Spangled Banner

One popular name for the American flag was the Star Spangled Banner. This name became popular in the War of 1812 when a star-spangled flag, representing the USA, was flown over Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore.

War of 1812

Inspired by this flag, Francis Scott Key wrote a poem about it. This poem was later adopted as the National Anthem of the USA.


American Flag Fast Facts

  • The American Revolution started in the year 1775.
  • The American Revolution was a war between the American Colonies and British Forces.
  • On June 14, 1777, a Resolution was passed by congress that the US has its own flag.
  • The ‘Flag Resolution’ decided that the American Flag should have 13 red and white alternating stripes.
  • The American Flags 13 Stripes represented the 13 States of that time.
  • In 1912, Congress decided to change the flag again and passed legislation that resolved that the stars should be placed in rows of eight
  • It is often thought that the person who sewed the first American flag was Betsy Ross.
  • Another popular name for the American Flag is the Star Spangled Banner.
  • Francis Scott Key wrote a poem about the Star Spangled banner which would become the American National Anthem.

Learn More about the History of the American Flag at Wikipedia