250 Years of American Flags through History

The very first flag used to represent the United States as a distinct entity was the Continental Union flag, also known as the Continental Colors and Grand Union flag. This banner was used by the Continental Navy starting on December 3, 1775, when it was flown from Commodore Esek Hopkins’ ship Alfred. 

The canton is based on the King's Colors used by Great Britain and its colonies at the time. The stripes can be traced to several different inspirations, including the striped banner of the patriotic group the Sons of Liberty and the flag of the East India Company. The Continental Union flag was only used until 1777, when the first Flag Act was passed.

The direct lineage of the modern American flag began on June 14, 1777, when the Continental Congress passed its first Flag Act. The Act decreed that the flag’s design would “be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” However, the exact placement of the thirteen stars within the canton was not defined, leaving the ultimate design up to the flagmakers.

Many different versions of the American flag were used in these early years, with the most famous being the Betsy Ross flag, which arranged the stars in a circle. Another commonly used design, created by Francis Hopkinson, arranged the stars in staggered columns and rows, similar to the current 50-star flag.

The first official update to the American flag occurred in 1795, when the 13 stars and stripes were increased to 15 to reflect Vermont and Kentucky's admission to the Union. This flag would become known as the Star Spangled Banner, the same name as Francis Scott Key’s poem, which would become the national anthem.

No new stars or stripes would be added until April 4, 1818, when Congress passed an Act that the American flag would have 20 stars to represent the number of states at that time. However, the number of stripes was reduced back down to 13 to avoid them being too crowded. This Act also stipulated that a new star would be added to the flag each time a state joined the Union.

Stars were continuously added to the American flag throughout the centuries as states were admitted to the Union. In 1912, the 48-star flag representing all continental US states was adopted. This Flag Act was also the first to strictly define the layout of the stars, which placed them in a grid pattern. The 1912 flag was used without modification for 47 years, making it the second-longest-used version of the American flag. The title of the longest-running American flag now belongs to our current 50-star flag, at 65 years and counting!

In 1959, both Alaska and Hawaii joined the Union, prompting the addition of two more stars to the flag. In fact, a 49-star flag briefly existed between the two admissions. The final 50-star design was signed into law by President Eisenhower on August 21, 1959. However, since earlier Flag Acts had stipulated that new versions of the American flag would be adopted on July 4th, this design wouldn’t become official until July 4, 1960.

Caeden has been part of Flags.com’s marketing team and the flag & flagpole business since 2023. With a B.A. in Anthropology, he analyzes the development and use of flags worldwide, past and present. When he isn’t researching flags, you can find him caring for his pet pigeon and growing vegetables in the backyard.